My Red Thread of Destiny
by Xeziel15
Summary: Two bonds were lost in the aftermath of the failed retrieval mission. A bond between his best friend and a bond between her master. What happens when Fate intervenes and weaves the two broken bonds together in destiny. An Uzumaki fic. [NaruTayu]
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**

**I don't own Naruto. If I did, then Tayuya would somehow be alive ;3**

* * *

_**[Part 1: Chance of a New Life]**_

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_**~oOo Prologue oOo~**_

_Rain pours down the valley, as if washing away the scorches and marks of the battle that had taken place. The Final Valley. The place where two of the great shinobi in time fought till the other was dead. Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju. And now, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. The two had battled each other with all their might. Both of them were willing to go all way for what they believe in. One was for power, while the other one was for friendship. A true test for both shinobi. But also a loss. Perhaps this was a repeat of the past or an event that foreshadows things to come. Either way, Fate has a very cruel sense of humor._

_The aftermath of this grand battle will result in two bonds being severed. One is the ties that bound to one's own village. Sasuke left the scene with his village and former friend behind his back. He never looked back and only looked on ahead. Eyes singled on revenge. The bond between him and his older brother was now stronger than ever. In order to attain his lifelong goal, he must sacrifice whatever he must to achieve power. That is what a true avenger must be._

_A sad and lonely road for one so young and full of promise. Naruto tried everything in his power to stop him from going to that snake. He was even willing to unleash his inner demon just to stop him. But it wasn't enough. His call never reached his friend's ears. He was too submerged in his own search for power that he failed to notice what's important. He severed a bond that was so...precious._

_Battered and defeated, Naruto lies face up to the weeping sky. It trickles down on his unmoving face. Eyes closed in deep slumber. A little while later, two forms drop down near the unconscious boy. A man wearing a mask and his little ninja hound._

_Rain continues to pour down on them as the silver-haired jōnin looks down in sadness. Dark clouds spreading ever so slowly up the valley to the surrounding forest. It washes away the battles that had been laid, cleansing all the sweat and blood sacrificed to achieve one's mission. A forest of bones where a lone boy stood and died proudly for what he believed in. His eyes still wide and open as the rain cries for the lost soul._

_It spreads further to a wide open field of sliced up trees where a young girl lies dead underneath a stack of human-size logs. Rain trickles down on her form. Its tears washing away the blood dripping down her mouth, as if wishing her a final farewell to the world. However..._

_The redheaded girl lets out a small cough. New blood coming forth. Just then, the rain gradually comes to a stop, making way for the bright light to pierce through the dark clouds. The first ray of hope kisses her lips where a scowl can be usually seen. But right now, her face is peaceful like Death's touch. The light slowly spreading as a new beginning awaits._

_**~oOo My Red Thread of Destiny oOo~**_

Rain falls down over three black cloaked shinobi. Droplets of water splattering their animal-styled porcelain masks as they fly through the forest at a very fast rate. All were silent as they concentrated on doing the task at hand. Just then, the three stop by a branch as they look on ahead at a great expanse of levelled out forest trees. It was as if an angry, vicious, and rampaging storm had passed by, laying waste wherever it goes.

"How can an entire forest be decimated like this?" One of them says, a male.

Beside him on his left, the second cloaked shinobi kneels down, looking at one of the chopped off trees nearby. "Judging by how the trees were cleanly sliced through, I'd say this was done by a long-ranged wind jutsu."

"Must be a powerful ninja."

The woman nods. "Either way, no one could have survived something like this. And if someone did, then they're better off dead."

The female shinobi stands up and proceeds to move up north-east. The male shinobi follows as well. But soon, they stop in their tracks. The two look back at their third companion who was still observing the destroyed forest.

"Did you sense something?" The woman asks.

The third cloaked shinobi shakes its head, and then looks back again at the forest.

The two shinobi look at each other. The man just shrugs his shoulders, and the woman lets out a sigh. She then looks back their companion. "Are you still thinking about Hayate?"

"..."

"..."

"...sometimes...but I– now's not the right time." The shinobi jumps down to one of the chopped trees, and then looks back at the two. "Komachi. Towa. You go on ahead. I'll stay behind and have a look around."

Komachi nods. "Alright. Stay sharp, Yugao."

"See you back at the village," Towa says.

With that, the two disappear through the still standing trees. Turning back to face the vast levelled down forest, Yugao jumps from sliced tree trunk to tree trunk, looking around for at least a sign of something. The Hokage had formed a search team regarding the retrieval team sent yesterday. Officially, the Medical Corps and Kakashi Hatake were sent to get the retrieval team back to the Leaf Village. But that's not the case with the Anbu Black Ops search team.

While Yugao continues her search of the area, the rain slowly dies down until it was nothing but light droplets here and there. Bright light comes through the dark clouds above, shining its warm rays to the cold wet ground. The puddles of water shining by the reflected light, making a beautiful scene to see. But that's not what caught the female Anbu's attention. No, it was actually tufts of red hair sitting by a log up north where the rays of light shines down.

Yugao quickly dashes through the obstacles of sliced trees and arrives at her destination. What she does find sparks her interests. Based on the description of Anbu Captain Otomatsu, the unconscious redheaded girl was one of the Sound shinobi from the invasion. One of the four that had a hand on the Third Hokage's death. And now, one of Sasuke Uchiha's escorts. Well, was. Right now she was as good as any dead shinobi. And no use for the Hidden Leaf Village.

Suddenly, the girl lets out a cough with blood coming forth her lips. Yugao's eyes widen behind her mask. The girl was still breathing. But how? She didn't sense her chakra.

"Even now," Yugao whispers.

She looks at the girl's lower body. It was crushed by two larger than human-size logs. Shifting her attention to the girl herself, she notices how her breathing was labored. Internal injury.

Deciding that now was the right time, Yugao places both her index and middle fingers in a criss-cross pattern. A poof of smoke appears, and an identical Yugao takes place. The clone moves by the girl's head, while the real Yugao takes down her cloak's hood and reaches for the sword hidden under. Channelling chakra into it, the purple-haired Anbu swiftly and cleanly cuts the wooden logs. But also being very careful not to hit her. And as the large logs gave way, the Yugao clone quickly pulls the rain-soaked girl out before anymore damage could be done.

Sheathing her sword, Yugao makes a half-handed ram sign, and her clone poofs out of existence. She kneels by the redhead's side and places her right hand over the girl's upper body. With hand glowing green, she assesses her for any major injuries. Her hand moves up, and then down to her lower body where it seems the most damage was done. She couldn't heal something like that. The most she could do to keep her alive was to...

Moving her hand back to her upper body, Yugao places both her hands over her left lung, healing the girl of her injury. After that was done, she takes off her black cloak and carefully puts it on the Sound shinobi.

"That should at least keep your body warm," Yugao says.

The purple-haired Anbu looks down at the unconscious redhead. She was breathing just fine, unlike before. And that makes it easier. Kneeling down, Yugao lifts up the girl and carefully maneuvers her body so that she was riding behind her back. With everything set, secure, and in place, Yugao jumps the sliced up trees, making her way back towards the Hidden Leaf.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Kakashi flies through the trees with Pakkun following right behind. They had found Naruto and were heading back towards the Hidden Leaf. Even though the jōnin was sad that one of his students left while the other one was seriously injured, he was at least glad to know that both of them were still breathing. If somehow he had lost one, it would be a deep blow on him. He couldn't afford to lose another comrade.

Kakashi looks back at the blond on his back. Naruto was sound asleep. A serene expression so unlike his loud and hyperactive persona. Though he couldn't imagine how much pain he had been through. Naruto deserves a break. His wounds were serious, but already healing at a fast rate. He will be alright thanks to the Nine-Tails. And that at least comforts the silver-haired jōnin. Naruto would be alright.

Turning back to face the trees ahead, Kakashi continues his way back to the village. But just then, he spots movement due south-east by his left. An enemy perhaps? Or maybe. He couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like her.

Kakashi quickens his pace, following the blur he had seen.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Yugao continues her flight path when suddenly, she senses a presence coming towards her. She was about to reach for her sword, but soon stops when she realizes just who the chakra signature belongs to. The mission was supposed to be kept in secret. She could just boost her speed and somehow lose him. But this was _him_ they're talking about. He would just catch up anyways. Besides, he was her senior.

Yugao continues her speed, waiting for the former Anbu to catch up. Moments later, a greyish-white, green, and blue blur drops by the trees down to her right, emulating her speed level.

"Kakashi." She greets.

"Yugao." He eye smiles.

"Pakkun." The ninja hound suddenly interrupts.

The two shinobi sweatdrop.

Shaking his head, Kakashi looks at the young woman. Straight purple hair reaching down to her waist. Her features were blocked by the Anbu mask she was wearing. But he knew what was underneath those thin cat-like slit holes were sharp, but kind brown eyes. As a member of the Anbu, she wore the standard uniform consisting of black and grey armor, metal arm guards, and a katana strapped to her back. She also has the signature Anbu tattoo on her right shoulder. Overall, she still looks the same.

Shifting his attention from the woman to the cloaked person riding on her back, Kakashi narrows his eye as he recognizes the girl. Even though he was very far when the attack on the Third had happened, he saw each of the enemy's faces with his Sharingan eye.

Kakashi looks back at Yugao. "I'm guessing an Anbu search team was sent to capture the bodies of the enemy ninja. And with how you're holding one of Orochimaru's lackeys like that, it means that the girl is still alive. Am I right?"

Yugao nods. "I see that you rescued Naruto Uzumaki. But it seems Sasuke Uchiha's not found anywhere in the area. So he had escaped."

"Unfortunately."

A sudden cough takes their attention, and the two look at the redhead. Blood trickles down her mouth, dripping some on Yugao's right shoulder.

The purple-haired Anbu stops on a branch, carefully laying down the injured girl. Yugao moves the cloak's flaps and places her hand over the girl's chest, glowing green. Kakashi and Pakkun stop on her branch as well, looking at the Sound girl with the latter coming near her. As Yugao tries to heal her injury, the girl lets out another bloody cough.

"Tch."

"What's her situation?" Kakashi asks.

"Her lower body is badly damaged. But the cause of internal bleeding comes from her punctured left lung," Yugao answers.

"Then you shouldn't have carried her on your back."

She stops at what she was doing, and then stares at him. "My mistake. My medical capabilities still need a lot of work." She then looks back at the girl. "I thought I healed it properly."

Kakashi sighs. "Well, what's done is done."

"Kakashi." Pakkun calls.

"Hmm?" He looks at the ninja hound. "What is it, Pakkun?"

The small pug closes in and takes a whiff of the girl. His big cute eyes narrowing. "It's this girl. She's–"

Pakkun was suddenly cut off by more coughing coming from the girl with more blood coming out of her mouth.

"We don't have time. I need to get her to Lady Hokage immediately." Yugao kneels down and proceeds to carry her again.

"Why don't you let me handle her?" Kakashi suggests. He then walks toward the girl, laying down Naruto beside her.

A still moment passes by the two unconscious teens, and sudden thought comes inside Kakashi and Yugao's mind as they picture the blond and the redhead beside together. But that soon fades away, and the jōnin picks her up bridal-style, while the Anbu lifts Naruto up and positions him on her back.

With that, the three continue their way back to the Hidden Leaf Village.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

In one of the intensive care units down below in the hospital's basement lies the redheaded Sound ninja girl. Dextrose was flowing down and was attached to her left hand from a plastic bag on a stand by her bed and more than a dozen medical wires were attached to her head and upper body in order to closely monitor her health and condition. Guaranteed, she would live. Any major injury afflicted upon her has been dealt with by the Hokage herself. Although very taxing and a dangerous process, the girl's condition has been stabilized. She was now sleeping soundly and out of pain.

The blonde Hokage eyes her from a one-way mirror at the right side wall by the room's only exit. Her brows were slightly brought down, and a thin line creased the side of her mouth from all the frowning and thinking. They had successfully captured one of her former teammate's subordinates. With the Torture and Intelligence Force, it'll be an easy task in getting out all the information needed to bring down the snake but...

Tsunade sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. All these problems and the solutions she has to solve were giving her a major headache. If she could only just steal a couple bottles of sake, her headache might be relieved. It wouldn't hurt for a cup of drink and all, right? But being the Hokage that she is, it was her duty to ensure the village's safety. The village and the people within were her top priority. It has only recently coped up from the joint invasion from the Hidden Sand and Sound. And now, Orochimaru strikes yet again when he sent his subordinates to get Sasuke Uchiha. It was a blow to village to lose one of the two remaining members of the Uchiha Clan. Not to mention now that the Sharingan was in his hands, Orochimaru's strength grows by the second. It'll only be just a matter of time before he lays siege to the village again.

But her worries were at least comforted when Jiraiya had told her that he couldn't use his Immortality Jutsu to transfer bodies for about another three years. Knowing Orochimaru, he will most likely wait for the Sharingan before he attacks. There was still time to prepare. And Naruto–

Tsunade's brow eases. She looks at a clock hanging above the wall. "Three years, huh," She mumbles to herself. A small smile forms on her lips. "I guess I'll miss the little brat."

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

It has been three weeks since Naruto and Jiraiya had left the village. A three-year training trip. Though it was actually less than that. Jiraiya didn't give a specific date, but he told her that they would return by the time of the Chūnin Exams. Probably the fifth or sixth starting from the one coming the next two months or so.

Tsunade leans in on the sofa she was sitting. Her left arm was propped up on its top back as she looks at the four framed pictures hanging above the wall. Her grandfather. Her granduncle. Her teacher. And her predecessor. All had given their lives for the village. And now, she must do the same. What being a Hokage truly means is that no matter what crisis may befall on the village, the duty of protecting and raising the little leaves falls on her shoulders.

A smile lights up Tsunade's face. "Being Hokage's difficult, isn't it?" She looks up at each of the past Hokage before her. She then closes her eyes to at least get a short rest before resuming her paper work duties.

Just then, an Anbu with a cat-like mask suddenly drops down. "Lady Hokage! It's urgent that you come with to the Leaf Hospital immediately."

She looks at him. "What is it about?"

"It's the Sound shinobi, milady."

"Oh, is she finally awake?"

"No. It's actually worse."

Tsunade stands up. "Tell me what happened? What's the situation?!"

"That's just it. They don't know what's wrong with her? Right now, the Medical Corps are doing their best to stabilize–"

The Anbu stops what he was saying as the blonde Hokage strides past him, throwing the door open and marching her way to the hospital.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

When Tsunade arrives at the location, she was greeted by shouts and orders thrown across the room. Her eyes then immediately land on the redhead as she convulses uncontrollably on the bed. Her eyes were wide open, but were dazed. A little bit of saliva drips from the corner of her mouth as she continues to trash around. Two medical ninja were holding her down. One of them was her apprentice.

Tsunade walks inside the room. "Shizune, what's going on?!"

The black-haired woman turns around and meets the blonde's eyes. Her expression slightly softens at seeing her master. But they were still edgy and worried. "She's having seizures. And it's been like this for fifteen minutes. Stopping, but resuming again after a while."

As that was said, the girl's body slacks. She lays unmoving with her eyes looking straight dead ahead and her mouth slightly ajar. Tsunade walks toward her and places her hand over her face.

No response.

She then palms her eyes and closes them. After that, she turns back to face the black-haired woman. "Do you have any idea what might be the cause of the attack?"

Shizune shakes her head. "I've no clue. We've read the scans, but nothing seems to show up. Even our medical ninjutsu doesn't help."

Tsunade rubs her forehead, and then looks at the sleeping girl. Her brow was scrunched down, and a frown paints her face. Her left hand glows green, and she places it over the girl's body.

...nothing.

Tsunade narrows her eyes and orders the cat-masked Anbu she was with. "Kusa, call in Mejiro immediately!"

The Anbu quickly disappears. A little while later, an Anbu with a bird-like mask in a white coat suddenly appears. "Lady Hokage."

"I need you to use your Byakugan and check the state of the girl's chakra."

"Right away." The Hyūga Anbu activates his kekkei genkai and looks at the now stable girl. "Wait, this is..."

"What is it?! Spit it out!" The Hokage barks.

The Anbu moves closer. "Her chakra network is in complete disarray. More specifically, it's eating away her chakra!"

The Hokage and the two medical ninja's eyes widen.

"At this rate, her body will give way. And soon...she'll die."

Tsunade puts her hand on her chin, biting her lower lip. "Something's affecting her chakra system. Maybe something injected to her. Or something she took in."

Shizune gasps. "The pills!"

Tsunade looks at her. "Pills?"

She nods. "We found a small bottle containing pills in her possession. Looking at how she's from the Sound, it might've come from–"

"–Orochimaru."

Shizune nods.

Tsunade frowns. "Alright. Shizune, I need you to get me a sample of that pill. We'll make an antidote out of it as a countermeasure." She then turns to the Anbu and the medical ninja. "Both of you stay with the girl. Report immediately if anything new happens."

"Understood, Lady Hokage!"

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Tsunade lies awake in her office, staring at the ceiling though looking at nothing in particular. It was the dead of night, but still she couldn't sleep. Her mind was still restless. She was thinking about the redheaded girl sleeping soundly in her hospital room. The Anbu were guarding her, as well as a few handpicked medical ninja checking on her condition. She has stabilized just a few hours ago. The toxins inside her were removed by the antidote they made. She would be alright but...

From the report Shikamaru had given her the day after the failed retrieval mission, Tayuya was a member of the Sound team that had escorted Sasuke out of the Hidden Leaf. Her abilities are mostly sound-based, as well as being a long-range genjutsu specialist. What fills the blonde Hokage's mind though was the fact that she has the curse mark. And Tsunade could only guess that it was by that reason that Orochimaru had her taking pills as it probably increases the use and effectivity of the curse mark. But such things will always have a catch. She must have been doing that for a long time. And just by stopping and being cut off from that supply, her body underwent severe withdrawal.

Tsunade sighs. How could such a thing happen? Orochimaru. Though it was really no surprise. She didn't know it back then. It was before she was even chosen for the title of Hokage.

Just then, a sudden knock takes the Hokage out of her thoughts. She clears her throat. "Come in."

The door opens, and Shizune enters the office, a clipboard in her hand. "Umm, Lady Tsunade. I have some uh...news."

The blonde groans and closes her eyes, leaning back on her chair. "Please tell me it's the good kind."

Shizune sweatdrops. "Well, I think it's good, but kinda slightly bad."

Tsunade looks at her curiously. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, you know how she's one of Orochimaru's subordinates."

"Yes."

"I think that status will give us a problem. As well as the consequences of what she had done."

Tsunade leans on her desk, elbows propped up and fingers laced. "I'm already aware of that, Shizune. What are you getting at?"

"Well..." Shizune scratches the back of her head. "You remember telling me to get a sample of her blood if there are any more of that toxin inside of her"

Tsunade nods.

"Well, the thing is...I have the results. I think you'll be very surprised at what you find."

Tsunade tilts her head to the side as Shizune hands her the clipboard. She takes it and reads what it says.

_Patient Information  
Name: Tayuya  
Patient ID: 750101  
Birth Date: Unknown  
Sex: Female  
Age: 14 - 15  
Status: Alive  
Height: 4.8 ft  
Weight: 84.2 lb  
Blood Type: A_

"It's at the bottom," Shizune suddenly says, "At the Blood Test Results, milady."

Tsunade scrolls down her eyes until they land on the Blood Test Section. A blank look passes by her face as she finishes reading it. But when understanding sinks in, her eyes gradually widen in shock and surprise. Her mouth hangs agape. The blonde Hokage reads it over again. Particularly the words 'Positive' and 'Uzumaki'.

Minutes pass by, and Shizune starts to worry for her master as she continues to clutch on the clipboard for dear life. "Umm, L-Lady Tsunade. Are you alright?"

Her voice seems to reach the blonde as Tsunade suddenly blinks her eyes and looks back at her apprentice. "Shizune. Tayuya is...she's..."

The black-haired woman nods. "It seems so. No wonder she has red hair, as well as surviving being crushed by sliced trees," she says the last part solemnly. "Do you think...do you think she knows? Should we tell Master Jiraiya and Naruto about this?"

Tsunade shrugs, and then gives the clipboard back to Shizune. Leaning back on her seat, she swivels her chair so that she was looking outside at the moon from her window.

After about a minute of silence, Tsunade speaks up. "I'll tell Jiraiya once they're back at the village."

"And Naruto?"

"...I'm not sure. For both of them."

"Naruto and Tayuya?"

Tsunade nods, a dazed look in her eyes. "I can't believe we found one. After all these years I thought their entire clan and culture would just fade away into non-existence. There's still a chance. Naruto Uzumaki...and now Tayuya Uzumaki."

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**AN:**

**Aaaawww, the latest manga chapter was so beautiful and heartwarming, I think I'm gonna cry. Happy Birthday, Naruto! X)**

**Anyway, this story will be a dedicated NaruTayu pairing. So for those fans of the pairing, I'm glad to present another fanfic for that collection! XD**

**The main characters will of course be Naruto &amp; Tayuya. Though they didn't really get enough screen time in the prologue. But don't worry, they'll be shown in the next chapter. The main supporting characters will be Yugao, Kakashi, Tsunade, and Jiraiya. Also, I plan on dividing the story into 5 parts:**

**Part 1 - Introduction**

**Part 2 - Uzumaki Clan**

**Part 3 - Tayuya's Past**

**Part 4 - Nine-Tails**

**Part 5 - Bonds**

**Anyways, please be kind and read &amp; review hehe ;3**


	2. Meeting You Again

_**~oOo Chapter 1: Meeting You Again oOo~**_

A lone man stood in the grassy fields, staring at a slanted kunai-shaped structure. Engravings are seen on its front, displaying numerous names. The names listed signify all the ninja who died in service to the Hidden Leaf. For all the blood and sacrifice spilt for the sake of the village, a Memorial Stone was built in their honor. A shinobi's death shed for love and peace. What an honor to die for one's village. To ensure that it continues to grow, and the trees to sprout its little leaves for the new generation to come.

Though in death they are gone, but in the hearts of their loved ones their memories are preserved. A soft breeze gently brushes the man's silver hair as he continues his reverie, remembering the days when the two of them would always be in conflict. Their skills, ideas, and characteristics were completely different. He was the cool and collected one, while _he_ was loud and brash. He would go for the best route, yet _he_ would do the opposite. He was the top of his class, but _he_ was the dead last. It was a funny thing really how different they were. But when put together, they were a team. From behind his dark blue mask, a small smile graces the man lips. They were a team. He was _his_ best friend, and _he_ was his. Obito Uchiha.

Kakashi looks at his friend's name. Almost every day, the masked jōnin would visit Obito's memorial grave. His body wasn't retrieved as he was crushed and buried by large rocks. He sacrificed himself without thinking of his well being. Obito saved him. Not just from death, but as a person as well. Kakashi remembers the days when would act cold and only deem anything good if they were useful to him. Friendship was not essential. Only the mission was important. He would do anything in order to complete the mission. Even if it meant sacrificing his comrades.

* * *

_"In the ninja world, those who break the rules and laws are regarded as scum, but those who would abandon either one of their friends are worse than scum. I'm scum anyway, so I'm gonna choose to break the rules. If doing that somehow makes me less than a true shinobi, then I'll just go and crush all of the so-called real shinobi."_

* * *

Obito's conviction shook Kakashi. His words pierced his cold heart. When he died, his ideals were passed down onto him just as the Sharingan that now inhibits his left eye. Kakashi is Obito Uchiha's living legacy. And it is his will to pass it down to the next generation.

Kakashi looks up at the clear blue sky. He chuckles softly as he thinks at how he had failed that part. Yes, he taught his three students Obito's words. But somehow, Sasuke never got his message. He was-how he'd put it-basically almost the same as the past Kakashi. No, the one that inherited Obito's will was Naruto. Every time he sees his blond student, he would see Obito in him. Their ideals. Their aspirations.

* * *

_"And my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage. Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody. Somebody important."_

* * *

Kakashi eye smiles, wondering how his cute little genin was doing. Well, he guesses that Naruto wasn't that cute anymore. Now that he thinks about it, Naruto just turned fifteen three weeks ago. Kakashi pictures an older looking Naruto, but with the same goofy grin and brash attitude. The silver-haired jōnin crosses his arms, nodding his head in agreement. Just then, a voice breaks the peaceful silence he created.

"So this is where you are, Kakashi. Figures you would be here."

The masked jōnin turns around and was greeted by waist-length purple hair, dark brown eyes, and red-tinted lips turned into a small smile. Kakashi eye smiles and greets his long-time Anbu friend with a raised hand. "Hey there. Haven't seen you in a while."

Yugao shakes her head. "That's because I'm quite busy."

Kakashi puts both his hands on his pockets, looking up at the sky."Ah, lost in the road of life. Is that it?"

The purple-haired Anbu chuckles softly and walks toward the Memorial Stone, placing a bouquet of white roses at its base.

"Flowers for Hayate?"

Yugao nods. "Thought I should drop by. It's been a while since I'm temporarily free of my charge."

"Ah, how is our little firecracker doing these days?"

The Anbu heaves a deep and long sigh.

Kakashi sweatdrops, feeling a bit of remorse for his fellow Anbu. "I'm guessing it's no milk and honey."

She shakes her head and stands up. "You have no idea just how much I've had to control myself. For the first two weeks, I had the urge to take up my sword and just shut the girl up."

Another sweatdrop joins jōnin's first one. "You're exaggerating, right?"

The Anbu looks to the side. "I guess..."

A third sweatdrop sits beside the other two on Kakashi's forehead.

Yugao looks to the side. "It doesn't matter now anyway. Living together with her this past month, I think Ikari and I are starting to understand one another."

"Hmm, where is she anyway?"

"She's where she should be. And by the way–" She looks back at the silver-haired jōnin. "–my visit here isn't entirely in all honesty about...him."

He raises an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Lady Hokage sent me to retrieve you. It seems that your record for tardiness never fails its mark."

Kakashi eye smiles and rubs the back of his head. "Hehe, you got me there."

Shaking her head, Yugao takes her Anbu mask that hung by the right side of her hip and puts it on, concealing her face from view. "I'll be right by if anything happens."

Kakashi nods in understanding. "I'm guessing that Lady Tsunade is expecting them to arrive today." He chuckles softly. "This'll be interesting."

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Underneath the multitude of leaves by the base of the tree line were two people walking down a rough road leading nowhere other than the village of their birthplace. The road may seem long and tedious, but for the pair of Leaf shinobi, the trip was worthwhile. After all, it's been a good two years and four months of hard work and training. And just the thought of going back home and getting to see everyone again makes the fifteen-year-old blond excited. His strides get longer, and his speed goes faster.

"Naruto." A voice calls from behind. But the fifteen-year-old didn't seem to hear it as he continues his fast pace. "Slow down, Naruto."

The second call seems to push through as the blond slows down, but only for a bit. He looks back at his white-haired perverted sensei. A grin paints his face as he points at the direction up ahead of them. "I can see it, Pervy Sage! I can see the village from way over here!"

Looking at where his student was pointing at, Jiraiya could see the top outlines of a large looming gate that could only belong to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. A wide smile lights up the man's face at seeing the familiar gates of his home. A welcoming sight for its returning shinobi.

"I wonder how everyone's doing. I wonder how much the village has changed," Naruto suddenly says.

Jiraiya shifts his gaze down to his student. He had a dazed look as if his mind was somewhere else other than his current position. Jiraiya walks over to his apprentice and places a hand on his shoulder. "Hey now, why so glum all of a sudden? I thought you were excited to go home, kid."

As that was said, Naruto seems to shake out from whatever trance he was in. Opting for his usual trademark grin, he looks at his master and salutes him. "Okay, let's go."

The master and student continue on their journey back home. It only took the two shinobi a few minutes to see the full view of the intimidating gate. And as they pass by under its gaze, Naruto felt happy. He was finally home. And that brought an ecstatic feeling down the pit of his stomach.

The two continue their way through the heart of the village, passing by the villagers as they were busy with their day to day lives. Laughs were heard. People talking and happily conversing with one another. Naruto smiles at the sight. "It's been about two and a half years."

"So it has," Jiraiya replies.

"It feels as though we haven't even left. The village still looks the same as I remember."

"Nah, it's all just in your head."

Naruto laughs. "Yeah, you're probably right. I just missed this all."

Suddenly, as idea pops inside his mind. Looking around, he notices a tall post that towers above almost all of the buildings. Grinning, Naruto concentrates his chakra on the soles of his feet, dropping his blue backpack and quickly climbing the post all the way to the top.

Putting his hand on his hip, Jiraiya chuckles as he looks up at his student. "Always rambunctious.

When the fifteen-year-old blond reaches the top, he spreads out his arms as he takes a grand look at the village of his birth. The wind brushes against his form, and he couldn't help but feel ecstatic again at the sight. "Now this takes me back! The village hasn't changed a bit! I'm home everyone! Naruto Uzumaki has returned to the Hidden Leaf Village!" He punches out his fist.

As his excitement goes down, Naruto puts both his hands on his hips, marveling at the sight before him. "Man, I'm feeling so nostalgic now." He looks around at every building, tree, and just about everything. Just then, his eyes wander at the great mountain where the stone carvings of every shinobi that took the mantle of being the Hokage. There were supposed to be only four of them, but now there was an extra face. And a familiar one at that. Naruto chuckles. "They added Grandma Tsunade's face up there."

"Naruto?! Naruto is that you?!" A voice suddenly says from below.

The blond looks down toward the ground and sees a sight that brings happiness in his heart. It was none other than his teammate, Sakura.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Inside the Hokage's office were three people. Sitting behind her desk was none other than the Hokage herself. Her attendant, Shizune, was pouring her a cup of tea as the blonde was busy giving instructions at their third companion.

She was a girl with long red hair that falls down to her hips. Her face was blocked by a cat-like mask with red wavy lines at each side, an arc from the left ear that comes down to the middle top, and marks going down at the inner eyehole. Though she doesn't wear their standard uniform, just by seeing her with that mask indicates that the girl does belong with the Leaf's Anbu black ops.

The Hokage was almost finished with her instructions to the Anbu girl. Though in truth, the redhead wasn't all that listening as her mind was somewhere else. Tsunade notices this even with the Anbu mask shielding the girl's face. She was the Hokage after all.

"Hey, are you even listening?!" Tsunade says impatiently.

"There are three shitheads coming over to see you," she says. "I think one of them is probably Pink Shit."

Shizune sighs, "Language."

"Don't really care," she casually replies back.

Tsunade heaves a sigh, ignoring the casual nicknames or insults that the redhead gives. "Language aside, I think your sensory skills are improving if you can now determine which individual chakra they belong to."

The Anbu nods, putting one hand on her hip. "Uzuki has been teaching me to sense and differentiate chakra, as well as in the arts of kenjutsu."

"That's good to hear. You're learning the skills that your clan possessed."

She nods her head, and then says something off topic, "When are you going to give it to me? The item I requested."

Tsunade looks at the girl. She has been asking about a flute recently, always bothering her whenever she has the chance. Tsunade laces her fingers under her chin, regarding the girl in all seriousness. "Five more months and your probation ends. For now, I want you to train hard under the Anbu I assigned to you. Is that understood, Ikari."

The girl looks to the side. A low growl could be heard emanating from her mask. "Alright, I understand." She then looks back at the Hokage. "But I want to know when are you going to stop calling me by that stupid f*cking label and actually start calling me by–you know–my real name?"

Tsunade was about to answer, when a sudden knock on the door stops her from doing so.

"F*cking timing."

Tsunade ignores foul tongue and waits for the door to open.

Sakura comes inside with Naruto and Master Jiraiya behind her. Seeing her own master and fellow apprentice, she gives a quick bow and excitedly steps to the side, pointing at her blond teammate. "Lady Tsunade, Shizune, look who's back!"

Tsunade and Shizune look at the guy Sakura was pointing at. Spiky yellow hair, three whisker marks on each side of his cheek, and a toothy grin that could no doubt belong to none other than the Leaf's blond knucklehead.

A smile lights up the Hokage's face. "Well, look who's gotten taller."

"It good to see you, Naruto!" Shizune beams.

Grinning, the blond genin puts both his hands by the back of his head. "Nice to see you guys too."

Jiraiya crosses his arms and huffs. "Hey, what about me? I came back too, ya know."

Tsunade waves her hand. "Of course, of course. We all know that."

The Toad Sage pouts. "Hmph, you guys don't appreciate me much, do you?"

Tsunade chuckles. "Oh stop being so overly dramatic, Jiraiya. It's good to see you."

"Alright, I'll forgive you just this once." A perverted grin appears on his face. "But only if you could do me a favor by helping me write my next novel. And I could only do that if you showed me your grand and bodacious bo–"

A fast flying projectile that is a cup filled with tea suddenly zooms in the room and lands a mark right in the middle of the white-haired Sannin's face.

Tsunade scowls. "I take back what I said. It wasn't good to see you, you pervert!"

Naruto, Sakura, and Shizune all had sweatdrops on their foreheads. Naruto kinda felt bad for his master, but he knew he had it coming. Sakura and Shizune on the other hand could only look on at their master's quick temper.

And as Jiraiya grabs his seemingly broken nose and writhes in pain on the floor, Sakura notices the other person standing inside the room. It was the young Anbu she'd recently seen this past month. Although she shouldn't fear any of their allies, it unnerved Sakura how the redhead could stare at them as if boring holes right through their heads.

Naruto notices his pink-haired friend's change of mood. "Hey Sakura, are you alright?"

When she didn't respond, he then turns his gaze to where she was looking at. It slightly startled him to know that there was another person inside the room besides them. It was an Anbu girl that was probably about the same age as them. Maybe older. She had hip-length red hair with two long bangs framing the sides of her face. Instead of the usual Anbu get up, she wore a black zip up vest with a short collar, white shorts that stops at the middle of her thighs with fishnets continuing down above her knees as well as covering both her biceps, black wristbands, and bandages that covered her lower legs down until it reaches her black ninja sandals. She also had the signature Anbu tattoo on her right shoulder.

The girl was staring at him, and Naruto couldn't help but stare as well, not just at her mask-covered face, but at her long red hair. He couldn't help but think that it was beautiful. Naruto shakes his head, while the Anbu slightly tilts her head to the side.

This silent conversation didn't go unnoticed by the two Sannin and attendant inside the room. The two women knew all too well what ties the two teens, while Jiraiya didn't recognize the girl at all. He knew all of the Leaf's Anbu's identities. She was probably new.

Tsunade coughs, breaking the silence. She looks at the girl. "You're dismissed, Ikari."

The redhead regards the Hokage for a moment, before casually heading towards the door.

Jiraiya lifts an eyebrow at that.

All of them watch as the Anbu passes them by. But a sudden knock on the door stops her advance. It opens up to two shinobi. One was a black-haired chūnin with a high ponytail, while the other one was a blonde jōnin from the Hidden Sand.

Sakura smiles at the faces of Shikamaru and Temari. She was about to greet the two and to tell them who was back, but it all falls silent as a sudden mass of killing intent fills up the room.

Temari's eyes widen at the heavy amount of KI directed solely on her. Sweat drips down her brow, and she immediately grabs her fan, staring daggers at the redheaded Anbu girl in front of her. "Who are you?"

"Oh, you don't remember me." She moves up her hand to free her mask.

Tsunade stands from her chair and glares at her. "Ikari, I order you to stand down!"

The redhead stops and slowly drops her hand, but her death glare didn't falter.

Before anything unnecessary could happen, Shikamaru tries to stand between the two girls, putting his hands up and planning the next two-hundred steps to calm things down. "Now wait just a second. We're all allies and friends here." He eyes the redhead as he says the last part. "So drop the weapons and the glaring and all. Everyone just take a deep breath and calm do-"

Suddenly, the girl's finger twitches, and Temari automatically goes for the attack. However, the blow never came as a purple-haired Anbu and a silver-haired jōnin suddenly appear. Kakashi grabs a hold of Temari's fan held hand, while Yugao places a hand on top of the girl's head.

Tension fills up the room as the two girls continue their glaring contest, ignoring the two shinobi by their side. Naruto and Sakura could only stare in confusion, while Jiraiya observes the tempered redhead. He shifts his eyes to Tsunade and gives her a look that says, 'We need to talk'. The blonde Hokage just nods an affirmative, before turning back her attention at the two.

Yugao looks at her young charge. She really was a handful. Chuckling to herself a bit, she pats her head and strokes the top of her hair. This technique seems to calm the girl. And gradually, her anger diminishes. Temari also seems to calm down, but was still wary. Shikamaru on the other hand breathes a sigh of relief, muttering about how troublesome women are.

Eyeing the girl one last time, Temari turns her attention to the blonde Hokage. "Lady Tsunade, may I ask why one of your Anbu tried to attack me?"

"Well actually, she didn't really attack y–" Shikamaru starts.

Temari glares at the chūnin.

He holds up his hands in defense. "Whoa, easy there. I'm on your side." He then casts a glance at the redhead, who in turn looks back at him.

Tsunade pinches the bridge of her nose. "Uzuki, please escort her out of this room before anything more regrettable things could happen."

Nodding her head, Yugao places her hand at the younger Anbu's back, leading her towards the door. The redhead looks one last time at the Sand shinobi, giving her a glare. Temari frowns and narrows her eyes, contemplating what the girl had said to her earlier. And before she got out, the girl shifts her eyes from the Sand girl to blond genin, catching his cerulean blue eyes with her hidden ones.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Tsunade drinks her cup of sake in one gulp, and then pours herself another. This cycle continues on for more than a few minutes before Tsunade groans and lies her head down on the table.

Jiraiya looks at his big busted companion, drinking his own cup of sake. He then puts it down and props his head on his right palm. "So..."

"So..."

"So...now that Team Kakashi is newly reformed and all, how about that explanation you promised me earlier."

Tsunade shifts her head and looks up at Jiraiya's steely eyes. Sighing, she sits up and pours herself another drink, before leaning back down on the couch. "What do you want to know?"

"That redheaded Anbu girl you have."

"You mean Ikari." She drinks up her sake.

Jiraiya nods. "I can tell that she's not just your ordinary shinobi for you to be lax about her not following orders."

Putting down her cup, the blonde sighs. "Well, you're completely right about that." She then looks at him in the eyes. "Let's just say that she's someone special."

He raises an eyebrow. "Oh, care to explain."

"She has...special chakra."

Jiraiya narrows his eyes. "Wait, special chakra? Are you saying that she's..."

Tsunade nods. "She is. And I'm keeping a close eye on her before anyone has a chance to take her away."

"Danzō. " It was a statement rather than a question.

She nods again, pouring herself another cup of sake.

"It's also the reason why you made the girl an Anbu."

"To keep her close."

"And to keep her a secret."

"Yes."

Jiraiya leans back on his seat. "Even if she is a member of that clan, it's not an excuse to just hide her from the world. There's still something you're not telling me, Tsunade. And I want to know what that is."

The blonde looks at her cup of sake, before drinking up its contents. She then looks back at her teammate, telling him everything.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Opening the door, Naruto switches on the light on the wall, illuminating the room. "Finally home sweet home! The old place hasn't changed a bit!" He beams. Taking off his sandals, he walks inside, his footprints leaving a mark on the dust-covered floor. "Oh, well bound to be a little dusty being closed up for a couple of years." Moving on toward the door to the small corridor and then to his bedroom, he opens it and switches on the lights.

Cobwebs littered the corners of the ceiling. There were also spiders crawling on their silky webs. Cracks on the walls were beginning to form. Dust covered all the furniture, as well as hanging above the stale air. Molds could also be seen here and there.

Naruto looks on, a bit unnerved and disappointed at the welcoming sight. Holding his breath, he quickly walks toward the window, putting down his backpack on his bed before opening the window. He coughs out the bad air and inhales good amount of fresh air. Looking back inside the room, he moves around the bed to his bedside drawer where a small picture frame can be seen. Dust covered its glass, and Naruto brushes it away with his right hand. It was their official Team 7 picture.

Picking it up, he smiles at it fondly as he sits back down on the bed. "You see, I finally made it back here, Sasuke." After a moment, he stands up and puts it back. He then stretches his arms, looking around his room. "Alright, I guess I'd better clean this up before I turn in."

Concentrating chakra, Naruto crosses his index and middle fingers in a familiar hand sign. _**"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"**_

Six other Narutos appear in a cloud of smoke. The original Naruto puts both his hands on his hips, looking at each of his clones. "Alright you guys! Time to clean up! You two will clean this room, while two others on the bathroom. Me and the rest will handle the kitchen slash dining room." He then pumps his fist. "Okay, let's go!"

"Right!" the clones shout in unison.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

It took only half an hour to clean and sweep away the dust everywhere in the whole apartment. After they were done however, all the Narutos came to the dining area and helped themselves with a cup of instant ramen. There were no other eatable foods inside the kitchen's cupboard as all were rotten or expired. Coincidentally, there was just enough instant ramen for the seven of them inside the original's backpack. Naruto didn't have a problem of sharing with other people. After all, the six of them were technically him, if not clones.

With a tired yawn, Naruto stands up from his seat. "Hey guys, I'm gonna head for the bed."

"Okay," one of them says.

"Goodnight, boss."

"Sweet dreams about Sakura-chan!" Another one salutes.

Blushing, Naruto rubs his head, and then makes a clone hand sign, dispelling the jutsu. Walking inside his room, he opens a small closet. There were a few clothes inside that didn't fit him anymore. One of the other things inside was his cute little black and white night cap. He smiles at it. Picking it up, he tries it on, but unfortunately it didn't fit him like it used to. Shrugging, he puts it back, mentally reminding himself to clean it one day. He might as well give it to someone who would use it.

Shutting the closet, he walks toward the bed. Opening the backpack sitting on top of the bed, he pulls out a light blue shirt. After that, he unzips his black and orange jacket, taking it off as well as his fishnet shirt. After that was done, next were his pants. But just as he grabs its casing, he suddenly hears something coming from the window. Checking it out, he looks outside. When he saw nothing there, he shrugs it off and turns back to the bed.

He puts on his light blue shirt and takes off his orange pants, leaving him in a pair of green shorts. And as he sits down on the bed ready to sleep, the blond notices a piece of neatly folded paper on top of his bedside drawer. Reaching for it, he opens it up and reads what it says.

Naruto tilts his head to the side. "Huh?"


	3. First Love Letter

_**~oOo Chapter 2: First Love Letter oOo~**_

A big gleaming moon shines down at the backs of two Anbu walking within an empty street in silence. The older female walks on ahead, while the younger follows from behind. Eventually, they exit the passageway and arrive at an elongated U-shaped building that was three-stories tall. A gigantic tree lays rest inside its curved shell, bringing about an air of greatness to anyone who views it. Sets of stairs line the building's inner wall, reaching to the top. The two walk towards the one on the front right and eventually climb up the stairs until they reach the third floor.

As they near a brown door, the purple-haired Anbu opens one of her vest's pockets, and then pulls out a key, using it to open the door to their apartment. She then steps to the side and nods at her redhead companion. The girl immediately complies and goes inside. Following right behind her was the purple-haired woman, closing the door as she enters the room.

Yugao switches on the lights. The room was decorated by a simple couch in the middle front facing the left side. In front of it was a TV with a low table between the two. A small drawer was located at the left corner. At the right side lining the wall were three doors. And at the far side of the room was the kitchen with a simple stove, cupboards, some other cooking utensils, a sink where a window stood above it, and a fridge at the left, opposite of the bathroom. A table also sat by with two chairs facing the other.

Moving to the couch, the Yugao sits down and leans back her head to rest, taking off her Anbu mask in the process. The redheaded girl looks on as the woman closes her brown eyes as if she were sleeping peacefully. She then opens an eye at her, and a small smile graces her lips. The woman pats the couch's seat, indicating for her companion to sit down. Without further thought, she obeys and lowers herself on the couch, lifting up her hand and removing the mask that conceals her face.

Dark brown eyes blink back as they adjust to the room's light. The girl leans back on the couch, crossing her arms as she looks to the side, away from the woman's piercing gaze. A light tug flashes on the corner of the woman's lips. She then places a gloved hand on top of the other girl's head, softly stroking her red hair. The act seems to calm her down a bit. But when the girl turns back to look at her, she gives the woman a half-hearted glare, and then pushes her hand aside.

An amused smile plays on the woman's lips. "Are you still mad, Ikari?"

The girl gives off a low growl. "F*ck you." She then gets off the couch and heads toward the door in the middle.

Yugao's smile softens. "Okay, I'm sorry for calling you that...Tayuya."

As she hears her real name, the girl stops and looks back. "Are you mocking me, Uzuki?" Her eyes narrows. "If that's even your real name."

Yugao chuckles a bit, having a bit of déjà vu right in front of her. "Maybe when your probation's done, I'll tell you my real name. Five months isn't that long."

She scoffs at that, turning around and entering her room. Yugao shakes her head at the younger girl's attitude. Standing up, she makes her way to the kitchen and takes a glass from one of the cupboards, filling it up with water from the faucet at the sink.

As she drinks the clean water, she looks outside from her window, gazing at the beautiful moon above.

* * *

_"Lady Hokage, I'm to what?"_

_Tsunade leans forward from her seat, lacing her fingers together. "It's just as I said. I'll be having her in your care. She'll be moved in your apartment once she's out of the hospital."_

_Yugao frowns behind her mask. "It's not that. I have no qualms about being her guardian or that she'll be staying with me. What I don't understand is why would you want me to teach her? She's an enemy of the Leaf. She was part of the joint Sand and Sound invasion that almost destroyed the village." She looks down. "I will not be disobeying your command. But I would just want to know why."_

_Tsunade sighs and leans back on her chair. The Anbu looks up at her, waiting for an acceptable response. And after a moment, the Hokage tells her why._

* * *

Tayuya Uzumaki

Even though she was an enemy to begin with, Yugao accepted her as she would to anyone of her allies. Even the person who killed _him_. Though it would be hard to adjust and have someone close to her life again, the thought that she was of the same clan as her deceased friend somewhat eases her mind. Then again, that notion was soon crushed on their first actual meeting.

* * *

_"Brat, I have a special guest for you!" Tsunade says as she suddenly barges inside the female Uzumaki's hospital room._

_Lying on bed with her eyes still closed, the redhead just turns her back on them, ignoring their existence._

_A nerve pops on the Hokage's forehead, still trying to smile, but was failing miserably. "As I was saying, this is the Anbu that I will be assigning to you as your guardian."_

_Yugao knew that the former enemy had a vulgar mouth and attitude. She just never expected it to go like this._

_Without looking back, the redhead just raises her middle finger. "Go home and f*ck somebody else."_

_For the first time in the Anbu's life, a tick mark appears on her smooth forehead._

* * *

Yugao smiles at the memory. She remembers how someone as calm and collected as she could be so pissed and bitter by a mere single sentence from the sixteen-year-old girl. She would only learn four days later that the reason why she had said that was because she thought that the guardian the Hokage was going to assign to her was a male.

A frown paints her lips. She then looks back at the door to the charge's room. There was no doubt that something happened to the former Sound ninja. Though curious, prying would only make their now stable, yet sometimes rocky, relationship back to the beginning. Indeed the girl was growing on her. And Yugao wouldn't want to push away her—dare she say it—new friend, even though the reality of her mission was only to insure that her bloodline would live on. Although, there is another Uzumaki in the village. Not to mention that the Hokage herself has some of the same blood as them. She guesses that preserving their near-extinct clan was one of the main reasons why Tayuya was allowed to defect to the Hidden Leaf Village. For her to revive one of the greatest clans in history, however horrible it may sound, she would be forced to—

Yugao's train of thought was suddenly broken when she senses Tayuya's chakra signature disappearing.

Putting down her glass of water, she quickly makes her way to the redhead's room, only to find out that she was gone. Expanding her sensory range, she gets a hold of the girl's location. Though faint, she could tell that it was coming from outside, heading north-west.

Taking her mask and heading out of the building, she follows the girl's trail. But as she jumps and lands on the first roof, Tayuya's chakra signature just suddenly vanishes.

Facepalming, Yugao makes a tsk noise with her tongue and mouth, clearly annoyed by the outcome. "Why did I ever teach her how to hide her chakra when she's awake?"

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

A silhouetted form jumps by the rooftops of the buildings around. It then hops down on a low house, silently rolling to its feet as it lands. At the same time, the clouds above the night sky disperse, making way for the moon to shine its light on her small form.

Slowly standing up from her crouch, the redhead Uzumaki looks up at a closed window just a few meters away. She then quickly hides behind one of the water tanks nearby, only peering after a moment to see a blond teenager coughing out from his window what appears to be dust coming inside the room.

Grabbing her Anbu mask, Tayuya lifts it up to see him from her own eyes. She tilts her head to the side, looking up in wonder at the boy. Though after seeing him again after almost two and a half years, Naruto Uzumaki didn't look like he'd changed, except getting taller. Well, that was her own personal opinion. He still looked like that Blond Orange Shit she saw at the Chūnin Exams, as well as her last mission as a shinobi of the Sound.

Her chocolate brown eyes droop down as memories of what had happened in that forest, and then finding out that—

Tayuya looks up the dark night sky above, still haunted by the fact that she wasted more than two years of her life.

"Tch." Gritting her teeth, the redhead closes her eyes, trying to calm herself. When her troubles were washed, she puts her mask back on, ready to finish what she came here to do.

Sneaking without being noticed was easy. Getting past sentries without being detected were most of her missions back in the day, though that wasn't the case all the time with the boys having their shit to deal with.

A small tug flashes her lips, happy for a moment. But just as it appears, it soon vanishes.

Shaking her head, Tayuya climbs to a higher building, before crossing to the other side by jumping off to a nearby tree. And as she lands on one of the buildings across from his apartment, she notices that there were two blonde Uzumakis sweeping and cleaning inside the room.

"Shadow Clone," Tayuya mumbles to herself, remembering that he did have that jutsu in his arsenal.

The Anbu girl stood watching as the clones did their job. Minutes later, they exit the room, and it was her chance to slip inside. With quick feet, she jumps to the apartment, landing with a quiet thud on a platform just below the window.

The first thing that she did as she got inside was taking out a piece of paper hidden within her left wristband, and then placing it on top of his bedside drawer.

Tayuya stares at it for a second, mentally debating whether or not to follow orders and go on with this little idea of hers. Ultimately, she decides the hell with it. It wasn't like Tsunade was going to find out, right?

...

The redhead frowns, followed by a sigh escaping her lips.

* * *

_"Listen, I don't know how you ended up with someone like Orochimaru, but now, I'm giving you a choice." The blonde Hokage looks at the redhead straight in the eye. "You can either give up any information you have regarding Orochimaru, and after a six month of probation, I'll let you become a shinobi of this village."_

_"Or..."_

_"Or." Her eyes turn serious. "You'll get to stay here and live as an ordinary citizen. But to do that, we would have to seal and block your chakra network. And you would never be a shinobi again."_

* * *

Tayuya scoffs. She knew that the last part was just a bluff. Her eyes then shift toward the other things that the blond had on his drawer.

There was her note of course. Behind it was an orange alarm clock twice the side of her fist. And at the left side was a picture frame of Naruto and his team. Based on their facial expressions, she guesses that the Uzumaki and Uchiha had a fight, while Hatake tried to calm the two down. Haruno was another matter as she doesn't seem to notice what was happening in the world around her.

A smirk lights up her face.

Tayuya didn't really hate the pink-haired kunoichi whenever she looks at her. It was just her own way of fun in seeing the girl get unnerved by her stares, much like she used to with her former lord and master.

Tayuya shakes her head, her hip-length red hair following. She then looks at the picture again, particularly at the boy who was of the same clan as her.

* * *

_Tayuya smirks, crossing her arms. "Give me one good reason why I should accept your terms, Hokage. Then maybe I'll consider your offer."_

_Tsunade sighs, taking her seat again. She narrows her eyes, as if in deep thought. And after about a moment, she looks at the window and speaks up. "We have a shinobi here who's a member of the Uzumaki clan. Although, he's away for the time being on a three year training trip, he'll probably be back around next month."_

* * *

Taking a step back, Tayuya looks around the room. It was alright for someone who lives all by himself, much more than what she had. Noticing a small closet on her left, she heads over to it and examines its contents.

There were a few clothes inside that seem too small on his form. And to her distaste, most of them were the color of orange. What piques her interest though was a cute little black and white night cap.

She picks it up, dusting off the dirt. She then takes off her mask, hooking it by her right hip, and puts the night cap on. It fit her head perfectly.

She lets out a smirk, before putting it back in its proper place. And as she closes the closet door, she hears the sound of footsteps coming closer to her location.

Acting fast, the redhead silently makes her way to the window, ducking under it from outside. She then hears the sound of a door opening and closing, footsteps, and something being opened. Taking a peek, she sees Naruto picking up the night cap from the closet, smiling at it fondly.

Tayuya didn't know why, but seeing him smile like that makes her want to smile as well.

He tries it on, but unfortunately it didn't fit his blonde head. He shrugs and puts it back. Shutting the closet, he turns around, and Tayuya quickly hides behind the wall. She then hears something being unzipped, some shuffling of clothes, and then something being unzipped again.

Tayuya knew she should have left when she got the chance since her note was already planted. But she wanted to know whether or not he would see the letter on top of his bedside drawer.

That was a big mistake.

Red creeps up from her neck to her cheeks. Tayuya's eyes widen, and her mouth slightly hangs agape.

There, in front of her, was a topless Naruto. And to make matters worse, he was about to take off his pants!

Her breath hitches, and her foot accidentally slips on the platform, making noise.

Cursing herself, she quickly jumps to the wall above the window, scaling it until she reaches the top of the building. Once there, she lies on the ground, still hot from that...experience.

"Shit. F*ck...shit."

As the girl lies on the ground, seething curses here and there, her purple-haired Anbu guardian drops down by her crown, staring daggers at her with both hands on hips.

Tayuya's brown eyes widen. She then quickly sits up, putting on her mask to hide the apparent blush on her face.

Yugao raises an eyebrow at that. "What are you doing?"

Her answer was quick. "Nothing."

The Anbu looks around the area. "Hmm, doesn't look like nothing." She then puts her right hand to her chin, while the other to her right elbow as she examines her fidgeting charge. "What are you doing at Naruto Uzumaki's apartment?"

The redhead's eye twitches behind her mask, feeling her cheeks heating up. She then sighs and looks to the side. "I just...wanted to see him."

"Him?" She feigns ignorance.

The girl glares at her guardian, snapping at her. "You know what I mean! Him. Naruto Uzumaki. The one you guys told me that he's the same clan as me!"

Tayuya storms off, heading back to their shared apartment. Yugao shakes her head and sighs, before following the pissed off girl.

All these things were seen by a certain perverted white-haired Sannin. He rubs his chin as his eyes follow the two, more particularly the redhead Uzumaki girl.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

The sun rises, and the birds sing their happy song as they greet the Hidden Leaf Village a good morning. The villagers rise from their beds as they start another day. Soon, the streets were filled with people, as well as ninja heading to the Mission Assignment Desk located within the Academy and prospective ninja attending their classes. One of those people walking by was a fifteen-year-old blond, deep in thought as he looks at the piece of paper in his hand.

Naruto couldn't sleep last night as his mind couldn't get over at what he had found on his bedside drawer. Well, not really true as he downright slept like a log the whole night when his eyes started to droop down. But that doesn't mean that he wasn't curious at this strange letter he received. There was no name on it. Just with words that says—

"Hey, Naruto."

Suddenly broken out of his thoughts, the blonde looks up from the paper to see none other than his unusually early sensei. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei. What are you doing so early in the morning?"

He tilts his head to the side. "I'm always early in the morning."

The genin crosses his arms, his eyes becoming straight lines. "That can't be right. You're always late. You're never early."

The jōnin sweatdrops. "Really?"

"Uh, yeah."

A blustery wind passes by, and Kakashi sighs at being known as the shinobi that is always late. It was like his large Sharingan Warrior title just got hit by multiple arrows with words like late, tardy, not on time, unpunctual, etc.

Naruto sweatdrops at his sensei's sudden change of attitude. Opting for a change in topic, he asks him something he really wasn't interested, but knew that his sensei liked, if not loved, it. "So uh, did you finish that book Pervy Sage wrote?"

And just like that, the perverted jōnin stops brooding and eagerly nods a 'yes', ranting about how the main character almost didn't succeed to get back the woman of his dreams, as well as commenting that Make-Out Tactics was by far the best of the series. All while, Naruto looks at the piece of paper, instead of listening.

Of course, Kakashi would notice that. "Whatcha got there?"

Naruto looks up at him, and then back again at the paper. "Oh, this is uh..." He scratches the top of his head. "Actually, I'm not really sure what to make of it."

"Hmm, why don't I take a look at it?"

"Good idea." The blond hands it over.

Kakashi takes it and reads what it says. "Come meet me at the Third Training Ground tomorrow at seven o'clock in the morning." He puts one hand inside his pocket. "Hmm..."

"What do you think it means? I mean, I know that shinobi should see what's underneath the underneath, but—" He crosses his arms. "—it just seems to me that there's nothing hidden or anything in that letter."

Kakashi looks at it one last time, before giving it back to his student. "Well, it seems to me, Naruto, that it means what it says it means."

"Wait, so I was just overthinking things?"

Kakashi eye smiles, nodding. "Yep."

Naruto heaves a sigh. He then looks at the paper in his hand. "Do you think I should go?"

"It depends."

"Depends?"

The jōnin places his hand on his chin. "The letter may either be a challenge to a fight or..."

"Or?"

His eyes sparkle in delight. "Well, I never thought I'd see this day so fast."

Naruto blinks. "Huh? What?"

Kakashi places a hand on the blond's shoulder. "If I'm correct, and if this is what I think it is, then I'm happy to inform you that you have a secret admirer."

Naruto's eyes widen. "Wait, you mean..."

He nods. "Yep, this just might be a love letter." He then wipes away comical tears running down his right eye.

The blond blushes at the thought of someone liking him that way. His mind then wanders to a certain pink-haired kuonichi that he has been crushing on since they were little. A foxy grin lights up his face, and he puts his arms behind his head, chuckling to himself.

He looks at his sensei, giving a salute. "Well, I better head off now, Kakashi-sensei. Can't keep Sakura waiting." He then dashes down the street, heading toward the meeting place.

Kakashi just nods, but then falters as his student's words process inside his mind. He puts his hand on his chin. "Wait, I never told him that it was Sakura's. Her handwriting is actually very different from cute little Ikari's."

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Naruto arrives at the training ground to find nobody there, only him. He scratches his cheek. "Well, I guess I'm a little too early."

Walking towards one of the three stumps in the center, he sits at its base, waiting for this secret admirer to appear. Minutes pass by, and still no one arrived. He waits for a little while longer before his patience fully runs out. He pouts and was about to walk away when suddenly, he feels a presence nearby at his right.

Crouched on top of the farthest stump was a girl with long red hair, her back slightly turned as she looks up above the blue sky.

Naruto stands up, recognition flashing in his eyes. He points at her. "You! You're that Anbu girl from yesterday!"

The redhead looks at him. "Hmph, Naruto Uzumaki. It's nice to finally meet you...officially."

"Wha? How do you know my name?"

"That's because...I've been watching you since the day you were born."

"Seriously?"

"No, I was just kidding," she says dryly.

The blond falls down on the ground.

The redhead chuckles a bit, shaking her head.

Standing up, Naruto looks at the girl, somewhat mesmerized by her long red locks as it sways with gentle ease. Moments later, his eyes widen a bit in understanding. Putting his hand inside his pocket, he takes out the piece of paper and shows it to her. "Hey, are you the one that left this letter to me last night?"

The girl nods.

Naruto's face falters for a second, somewhat disappointed that it wasn't from Sakura. He then remembers what Kakashi-sensei had said to him earlier about it being a love letter. So that means that this girl here...

He bonks a fist to his open palm. "Oh I get it now, the reason why you were looking at me yesterday back at Grandma Tsunade's office."

"Y-You do?" Her tone of voice holds a bit of surprise. It then changes to a happy one. "Then you know why I'm here, right? You know."

He nods, but then looks to the side, rubbing the back of his head. "Listen, I'm really flattered and all, really. But I just can't because there's someone else that I like." He bows his head. "I'm sorry. I hope you understand."

The girl tilts her head to the side, her mind trying to process what the blond had said. But the end result was only a gigantic error. "What the hell are you going on about? I don't care whoever girl you like."

Now it was Naruto's turn to be confused. He points at the piece of paper in his hand. "You don't. Isn't this a love letter that you sent me?"

The girl almost slips on the stump in shock. "WHAT?!" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. How the f*cking hell did a simple meet-up letter transform into a love letter?!

Naruto looks at the girl, then at the letter, and then back again at the girl. His face then pales as understanding sinks in, his mind exploding with information that this really wasn't a love letter, that Kakashi was a no good liar, and that he was way over his head into thinking that someone would really like him that way. Talk about embarrassing yourself in front of a girl. Not to mention the beating that will surely come.

After calming down a bit, the girl looks at the boy. And even though the blond couldn't the face past her mask, he knew that she was giving him death glares. Sweat drips down his face, quite afraid of what will happen next. What he didn't expect though was for her to look away.

"Tch, f*cking idiot," she mutters under breath, before jumping off the stump and vanishing in a leafy wind.

Naruto stares wide-eyed at the space where the Anbu girl disappeared. He was really confused and didn't quite understand what had happened. It was only broken when hears his name being called at the far distance.

"Naruto!"

Turning around, he sees his teammate, Sakura, waving at him. He raises an arm to say hello. But as the pink-haired wrath of destruction nears him, she immediately smacks him in the head.

Naruto clutches the top of his head with tears in his eyes, a fist-size lump appearing on his blond head. "S-Sakura-chan, why?"

The medic-nin puts both her hands on her hips. "Idiot, I've been looking everywhere for you. It took me a while, but I finally found you. Listen, Lady Tsunade has an important mission for us, and she's—huh, what's this?"

Naruto looks up at his teammate to see her picking up a small piece of paper on the grassy ground. It was his love letter—er—letter from the Anbu girl.

Sakura turns it over, reading its contents.

Naruto tries to take it away from her. "Sakura, that's—"

Her eyes widen. "I can't believe it. Someone sent you a love letter."

He sweatdrops. "That's not—"

The medic-nin smiles slyly at him, elbowing his side. "So, did you meet with her? I can guess who that is." She then stops and scratches her head, mumbling to herself. "But wait, isn't Team 8 supposed to be on a mission right now?" She looks at Naruto, pointing at the letter in his hand. "Then who gave you that letter?"

The blond just pockets the piece of paper, a slight frown on his face. "Sakura, it's not a love letter."

Her eyes widen a bit. "Uh...oh."

"Yeah." He then shrugs, grinning at her. "C'mon, Sakura, let's get going. I thought that Grandma Tsunade's waiting for us. I can't wait to get a mission!"

"Oh uh...okay"

As they head to the Hokage's office, Sakura looks at her blond teammate, wondering what was up with him as he suddenly changed the topic. Something tells her that he's keeping things to himself—whatever it was—and that it has something to do with that letter, as well as the one who sent it to him. Naruto on the other hand was wondering the same thing. The Anbu girl had a reason for giving that letter to him. She knows something, and he's going to find out what it is.

The Hokage surely knows the answer.


	4. Former Sound Shinobi

_**~oOo Chapter 3: Former Sound Shinobi oOo~**_

Kakashi stands idly as he reads over the breakdown of their mission. It was simple really. Not much complications. They've already got the locations, courtesy of one irate redheaded Anbu as it was part of her and Lady Tsunade's agreement. It will just be an easy cross out of the hideouts until they hit ex marks the spot. Very simple, right?

Of course, there's an eighty-five percent chance of an unknown factor they will have to face. Knowing _him_, there would likely be death traps hidden and scattered everywhere. Not to mention the probability of encountering said Sannin, though that seems highly unlikely right now as there haven't been any reports or sightings of an anomaly since the Hidden Sand Village doubled its guard across the vast dessert about a month ago after the Leaf shared Ikari's information.

The Fifth Kazekage had ordered his shinobi to search their lands and maintain a watch for any intruders or strange visitors coming their way. It's imperative that security be high, especially when there's a chance that the Orochimaru might appear again. Or even maybe the Akatsuki.

Kakashi hands over the paper back to the blonde Hokage sitting behind her desk filled with countless towers of paper. Just then, the door to her office opens, and two of the Copy Ninja's squad members, Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno, appears.

Kakashi raises his hand in greeting. "Hey there. Took you long enough."

Naruto looks at him, his biggest disappointed pout forming his face and anime tears flowing down the fifteen-year-old's blue eyes. "You! You lied to me! How could you do this to me, Kakashi-sensei?"

The jōnin sweatdrops. "Eh?"

A strange comical scene occurs with Naruto grabbing his sensei by the collar, and then moving him back and forth with Kakashi's head lolling like a ragdoll, all the while Sakura tries to calm down the upset young blond.

Tsunade sighs from her seat, leaning her head on her palm. She watches the scene unfold, and a small smile appears on her lips. Although seeing them acting like that was amusing, there was much to be discussed and much to be done. She was about to interfere, but stops when she hears what Naruto was going on about.

"—tricking me into thinking that she actually even likes me! You know how much embarrassing that was, huh!" Naruto cries. "I must've really looked so stupid in front of her!"

Kakashi didn't have a reply to that. Truth be told, he _did_ know that cute little Tayuya—er—Ikari didn't have any feelings for Naruto, except for maybe her curiosity because they are both from the Uzumaki Clan. In fact, he just said that it was a love letter because...well...maybe because the both of them reminded him of his sensei and Kushina. Plus, he knew that Ikari had waited for him for a month after Lady Tsunade had told her. And now that he's back, she wanted to meet him, even though she was forbidden to do so until the Hokage will allow her. But, Kakashi being the kind-hearted man that he is, did what he thought was fair and told Naruto a lie that she was interested in him so that he would seek her out. Well, not really a total lie as she _was_ interested in him, just not in a romantic way.

"Her?" Sakura asks. "Is this about that love letter you have?"

"I told you before, Sakura. It's not a love letter." Naruto insists.

She waves him off. "Yeah, yeah. But anyway, you never told me who your secret admirer was."

At the thought of Naruto having a secret admirer sparks an interest in Tsunade. At first she thought it was Hinata Hyūga as the girl has an obvious liking towards the blond, but then tossed that aside as Team Kurenai was out on a mission and won't be back for a couple of days. She leans forward, listening in.

Kakashi notices that and sweats. If the Hokage ever finds out that the two had met without her authorization, then there would be major consequences.

"That's because I didn't know her," the blond says exasperatedly. "I didn't even saw her face. All I know is that she has long pretty red hair and is a member of the Anbu Black Ops."

Sakura's eyes widen. "Wait, long pretty red hair? Do you mean that creepy Anbu girl from yesterday?"

He nods an affirmative.

Kakashi sees Tsunade's brows come down together, an evil aura surrounding her body. "Naruto." Her voice was calm, but you could feel the evil aura radiating from her. "Did this Anbu girl happen to swear and curse most of the time?"

The genin looks at her and puts his hand on his chin. "Well, now that you mention it, she did call me umm, yeah."

Sweating, Kakashi forces himself to calm down. Even if the Hokage knows about them meeting, as long as he wasn't mentioned or caught as one of the progenitors, everything would turn out okay.

"But she only said that because Kakashi-sensei tricked me into seeing her!" Naruto points at him. "It's all Kakashi-sensei's fault!"

The Copy Ninja sweats dramatically at the heavy amount of KI directed at him by both blonds. If looks could kill, he would be a mere puddle by now.

Tsunade heaves an irritated sigh, rubbing her temple.

"Lady Tsunade, I can explain—" Kakashi starts, but was cut off as Tsunade holds up her hand.

"I'll have a talk with you, Kakashi. But it'll be after your mission. Right now, the Sand's ambassador is waiting at the gate and will accompany you three to the Hidden Sand. You are to fill in Naruto and Sakura of your mission on the way instead as I have more important things to deal with now that you've indirectly encouraged her to disobey my orders."

"Y-Yes, Lady Hokage," he sighs.

"Dismissed."

"Right." Sakura and Kakashi give a short bow, before turning around to exit the room. Only Naruto remained stationary. Sakura and Kakashi look back at him expectantly.

"What is it, Naruto?" Tsunade asks.

The blond genin puts his hand on his pocket and takes out a piece of paper. He then puts it on top of the Hokage's desk. "Here."

Tsunade picks it up and opens it, reading its contents.

"Grandma, I think that Anbu girl from yesterday wants to tell me something. I just thought that since the Anbu are under the Hokage, you might have an idea and tell me—"

"No."

Naruto frowns. "But I haven't even finished—"

"No means no, Naruto."

"Whaddya mean no?! She must've had a reason for wanting to meet up with me." His eyes then turn into slits, his tone of voice holding suspicion. "Wait, you're hiding something, Grandma. What is it?"

"..."

"C'mon, tell me!"

Tsunade sighs, rubbing her temples, "If I told you, would you leave me in peace?"

Naruto nods his head feverishly.

The blonde Hokage leans forward, lacing her fingers together. "Fine. I'll tell you...after you get back from your mission."

"What?!"

"Deal?"

"No way!"

"Fine! Then I won't tell you."

"Okay, okay, fine. Deal," Naruto says grudgingly.

Tsunade smirks. "Deal. Now get out before I throw you three out of the window!"

"Yes, ma'am!" they say simultaneously.

When Team Kakashi was out of hearing range, Tsunade closes her eyes and leans back on her chair. "Did you hear all that?"

"Yes, Lady Hokage." Suddenly out of nowhere, Yugao appears inside the Hokage's office. "And I...apologize for my charge's rash behavior."

Tsunade only nods, opening her eyes. "Tell Ikari I need to see her. Tell her it's about Naruto."

The Anbu nods. "Is that all, milady?"

Leaning forward, the Hokage laces her fingers together.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Sitting by her lonesome at the training grounds was a masked girl with long red hair. Tayuya looks at her own reflection on the still lake water, lifting a hand as she traces the side of the mask down by the chin. She then grabs a hold of it entirely and takes it off, leaving behind dark chocolate brown eyes staring right back. Just by looking at her deep brown orbs, one could tell that they were dull and full of bitterness from the hardships she faced that scarred her life. But underneath all that was a spring of hope dimly glowing brighter as the time passes by.

She tilts her head to the side and dips a finger on the water, creating ripples and sending her image to a blur, her mind wandering back to the time when she and Uzuki had a conversation when they got back to their shared apartment.

It was after an Anbu meeting they had regarding the new Intel the Hokage got from a reliable source, which is by the way her, though they didn't know that. They thought that she was a new recruit. An orphan girl from a neighboring town in the Land of Fire that Uzuki had saved on one of her rare solo missions. Seeing that she had talent, Uzuki trained her in the arts of shinobi with the approval of the Hokage of course. And that is Ikari's little backstory of how she became a ninja and rise through the rank as a member of the Leaf's Anbu Black Ops.

Everything seems fine at first. Her cover story was believable with forged facts being able to prove it. Uzuki was there, guiding her. Having to interact with the other members was another matter. Which leads to her and Uzuki's conversation when they got back home after the meeting.

* * *

_"Dumbass bastards looking at me like that," Tayuya mutters, sitting down on the couch with crossed arms. "I'm pretty sure they can't stand being in the same room as me."_

_Uzuki walks to the refrigerator, opening it and taking a carton of milk. "Have you ever thought of lessening your swearing and cursing all the time? Or even insulting our comrades whenever you feel like it."_

_The redhead leans her head back, looking at the purple-haired woman. "Sometimes. Though I can't imagine that shit happening." She chuckles to herself. "It's kinda like having it stuck inside my blood."_

_Uzuki sighs, "You know, you could've been a little more nice."_

_"Hmm, maybe..." She then stands up, heading over to her room. _

_"In the long run though, whatever you decide today may either end up getting you friends..."_

_"..."_

_"...or enemies."_

_She halts, her hand hovering over the door knob._

_"Take your pick."_

_"..."_

_"..."_

_Tayuya looks down. "Maybe you're right." She then opens the door. "But I don't need friends."_

* * *

Tayuya lifts her finger from the water, watching the new ripples form from the disturbance. She then sighs, gathering up her knees as she thinks about a certain blond boy she blew off just because he made a simple mistake and pissed her off.

She looks down at the water again, somewhat mesmerized by it. "I guess...I could've been a little more nice."

As Tayuya continues to stare at the water, she couldn't help but feel that something was off. Like something bad was going to happen if she didn't act soon. And just then—out of the corner of her eye—she sees the reflection of a figure to her right throwing projectiles at her direction.

Acting fast, she jumps back, narrowingly missing three kunai that imbedded themselves from where she had recently stood. Her eyes then widen as she notices the paper bombs attached to it.

The bomb explodes, creating a large greyish smoke, billowing dust and debris around the area. Just then a figure shoots out from it, doing a three-hundred sixty degree spin, and lands gracefully on her feet.

Tayuya quickly moves to a defensive stance, sharpening her senses and expanding her sensory range. She immediately finds the attacker and turns her body toward its direction, only to find multiple shuriken heading her way. Out of reflex, she quickly moves her right hand to her lower back, fingers automatically curling to grab—

Air?

Tayuya's eyes widen. She then curses herself for forgetting the most important fact that her flute is gone. She immediately shifts her stance, evading the incoming projectiles. She dodges them easily, though missing one as it scratches the top of her left shoulder.

"Dammit!"

Tayuya ducks down to her knees, making a ram, snake, and tiger hand sign, producing four clones in front of her. She quickly slips in between, hiding herself among the clones before scattering. Each dash on their own toward the tree line where the enemy was hiding, all the while the real Tayuya circles the trees by the right side, grabbing her wristband, taking it off, and putting a hand over the sealing paper hidden underneath. Smoke poofs out of it, and a ninjatō suddenly appears.

A smirk flashes across the redhead's lips.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Yugao flies through the trees, looking around for any sign of Tayuya. She couldn't get a location on her as the girl was either hiding her chakra or that she was losing it, which was highly unlikely, as well as the former being more likely to be true.

She had seen the Uzumaki boy and Haruno come out of the training grounds near the third one. If he and Tayuya had met, then that means that she might still be somewhere in that area. Following that lead, she got as close as possible, before stopping all together at what she sees.

To any ordinary folk or even an average shinobi, they wouldn't notice the advanced jutsu casted in the area. But for a skilled Anbu such as herself, she could tell that a large dome-like barrier was erected over the area, halting anyone from entering inside.

Yugai narrows her eyes behind her cat-like mask. She then reaches for the sword at her back, though she didn't draw it just yet. She could try disabling the barrier ninjutsu, but...

* * *

_Tsunade only nods, opening her eyes. "Tell Ikari I need to see her. Tell her it's about Naruto."_

_The Anbu nods. "Is that all, milady?"_

_Leaning forward, the Hokage laces her fingers together. "Yes, there is one more thing I need to discuss with you. Yesterday, I've informed Jiraiya about Ikari. He accepted it, but that doesn't mean he liked it. Mainly because she's still somewhat tied to that snake."_

_Yugao understands what the Hokage was saying._

_The curse mark._

_Even though Kakashi had added a curse sealing over her mark, its sealing prowess are dependent on the recipient's own willpower to suppress it. But the sole question is whether or not Tayuya would use her former master's power when given the opportunity._

_"Jiraiya wanted to see whether or not the girl would use it under dire circumstances."_

_Yugao narrows her eyes behind her mask. "You're giving her the test now?"_

_Tsunade nods. "It'll also be a question on whether or not she could fend for herself. After all, it is the main reason why I ordered you to train her in the first place."_

_"So that even if I'm not around, she can protect herself without fail." She then puts a hand by her hip. "But isn't it too early? It's only been about a month since she had woken up. Not to mention that her opponent is more powerful than her. I thought that it'd be five more months before she would be tested."_

_"I know," she sighs. "We'll just have to change plans and have her secret known to Naruto earlier than expected."_

* * *

Yugao loosens her grip on the hilt as she senses a familiar chakra heading her way. Just then, a white-haired man drops down to her level. She drops her hand down to the side. "Master Jiraiya."

The Sannin gives her one of his flashy smile. "The one and only."

The Anbu just nods. "Lady Hokage wanted me to escort Ikari to the Hokage's office." She then looks to the trees where the barrier was erected. "But she's inside the barrier. So her test has begun."

Jiraiya looks at the barrier too, crossing his arms. "Yes. Right now, she should be fighting a disguised clone I set up. With the barrier covering the training ground, no one can interfere. She also won't be able to sense our presence here outside."

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Tayuya dodges a high kick to the head as she leans back, completing a back flip with a follow-up horizontal slice to her opponent, though it misses as the man evades the attack. As she reorients herself, she sees him making hand signs, and then putting a hand by the mouth area. A large ball of fire suddenly hurls itself toward her. Her eyes dilate, and she quickly concentrates chakra on the soles of her feet, dodge rolling to the side. Landing on her feet, she holds up her sword, blocking four shuriken coming her way. It was then followed with the ground she stood turning into mud.

"Shit!" Tayuya tries to move away, but her feet were stuck.

"It's no use." The masked enemy walks forward, stopping by the edge of his jutsu's range. "This earth-style jutsu can ensnare my enemies once they're trapped. And there is no way of escaping. Give up now and surrender."

She growls, giving him the finger. "Surrender my ass! I'm not done yet, you bastard!" The redhead suddenly poofs up in smoke, followed by multiple kunai with paper bombs attached flying out of the smoke towards her enemy.

The man quickly jumps back out of the way to safety. When the smoke dissipates, the girl was nowhere to be found. A small smile appears behind his masked face, before moving back to the tree line.

Tayuya watches as his form disappear from view. She then closes her eyes and sighs. Looking down, she sees that she was still stuck in the damn mud. It was a good thing her genjutsu was successful or else she would've been dead by now.

She scowls. "F*ck. Where's Uzuki when you needs her?"

Holding her sword in front, she closes her eyes, and then focuses her chakra into it, something that her purple-haired guardian taught her to do. And when she opens them, she faintly sees her chakra around the blade.

Grinning, she strikes the mud by her feet, loosening it. Before it could trap her again, she quickly concentrates a fair amount of chakra to her feet, and then jumping out of the mud to freedom.

A scowl forms again on her face at seeing her mud-soaked feet. It would be hard to sneak around if she'll leave a 'Follow my trail' tracks here and there. Stupid way of getting killed.

Kneeling down, she unstraps her ninja sandals, taking them off. She feels a little bit weird about it as she wasn't used to walking barefooted outdoors. She then shakes her head, rushing to the tree line, but not before scrapping off the excess mud on her bare feet.

She jumps from tree to tree, climbing higher up on a large one and perching herself on one of its branches. She scans the area for any sign of the traitorous rat, as well as expanding her sensory range.

He was good. She admits that. Much more skilled than she led to believe on. Probably even outclassed her in ninjutsu and taijutsu. When she had first encountered him after circling around to ambush him while he was distracted with her clones, she had stabbed him in the heart from behind.

She didn't expect it to be _that_ easy. And she was slightly surprised that she _was_ right that it wasn't as the guy suddenly poofs up in smoke, followed by the real one slugging her in the face and hurling her down to the forest floor.

After that, everything seemed like a very fast blur with him attacking her relentlessly with his taijutsu and ninjutsu, all the while she was trying hard to evade and dodge his attacks, countering when she could. But it always ended up the same with him on the offensive and her on the defensive.

Fighting the rat head on was out of the question. Close-combat, even if Uzuki had trained her in the sword, was not her specialty. She was a long-range fighter. A genjutsu specialist. Not in kenjutsu or taijutsu. But even so, she can now only use a few of her genjutsu. She had no other ninjutsu besides summoning and other basic jutsu. Shurikenjutsu was about average. Barrier ninjutsu was above average, although most of it can only be used when she collaborates with her former team members.

Tayuya's eyes drop down. If only she had her flute with her, then everything would be fine and easy. When compared to her opponent, she was at a disadvantage. Her only advantage was her sensory abilities and...

Tayuya puts a hand behind her neck, feeling the sensitive skin where her curse mark was. She then shakes her head, closing her eyes. "Even if I fight an opponent much stronger than me, if I make up a good strategy, I can win the battle." She then opens her eyes, a sinister smile painting her lips. "Hmm, that might work."

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Everything was set. All she needs to do now was to lure him in. Just then, she senses his chakra east from where she is, heading north. Opposite of where her trap was set.

Scowling, Tayuya dashes through the forest, and then jumps from a branch to another until she catches up with the jackass, landing on the forest floor a few feet behind him.

The masked man slowly turns around to face her. "Good, you're here. Saves me the trouble of finding you."

Tayuya shifts her stance, holding her sword with both hands. "Hmph, before I beat the ass of a rat such as yourself, I want to know what your objective is." Her dark brown eyes flash dangerously. "Why did an Anbu from Hidden Leaf attacked me all of a sudden? Or are you just wearing that mask like some fake ass wannabe?"

"..."

"Answer me, you traitor!"

"Traitor? That seems off, considering that I don't remember you being an ally, Tayuya of the North Gate."

Tayuya's eyes widen. He knows who she really was! Her mind then suddenly goes blank, eyes narrowing as she dashes toward him.

The fake Anbu takes out two kunai, blocking the redhead's strike with one and countering with the other. Tayuya wards off the first kunai and sidesteps from the thrust, turning around for a roundhouse kick to the gut. It barely lands as the rat jumps back, throwing his two kunai, and then making hand signs for another fire attack.

Tayuya deflects the kunai with her sword and sees him readying another fire jutsu. She immediately reacts and concentrates chakra to her feet, jumping up above him with quick speed, and then going down with the blade in a reverse grip.

The fake Anbu stops making hand signs and jumps back at the last second. Tayuya relentlessly follows him immediately, going for an upward slash. He sidesteps and counterattacks with a backhand, followed by a roundhouse kick, which she dodges by back flipping away, throwing two shuriken at him. He blocks them and follows in after her. Tayuya throws in two more shuriken, before retreating back south-west and luring him to her trap.

As the chase goes by with the two blocking the other's projectiles and clashing once in a while, they finally arrive at the location. Tayuya jumps down from a branch, moving near her death trap. The fake Anbu follows right behind, catching up and attacking her with a kunai. She manages to block it, but with how the man was pushing his weight down on her, her knees gives in, making her fall down on her back with the him on top, putting his kunai to her neck.

"You're no match for me girl. You're weak."

"I'll kill you."

"Hmph, you can't kill me with your powers alone." He leans his head forward. "Unless, you use that curse mark your Lord and Master gave you."

Tayuya eyes widen. She then glares at him. "Shut up! I don't need _his_ power to defeat you!" She spits at his face, more accurately at his mask's eyehole. It momentarily distracted him, but it was just what she needed to grab his hand with the kunai to prevent him from attacking her further, and then putting her foot on his stomach, grabbing a hold of him with her free hand and tossing him overhead.

The man quickly reorients himself, landing on the ground with his feet. He then looks at her to see her grinning maliciously at him, her left hand in a half-handed ram sign.

Suddenly, the air and ground around him shifts. Four kunai imbedded at the west, east, south, and north, where the girl lay, appears from view. He then notices that in each kunai, there was a tag attached to its handle with characters connecting the four points. His eyes then widen.

_**"Ninja Art: Pyramidal Prison!"**_ Tayuya says.

The four points light up at the command, encasing the fake in a four meter pyramid barrier.

"Ahahaha! Like a trapped rat in a cage!" She stands up. "Who's weak now, jackass?!"

"I'm not done yet." He makes some hand signs.

Tayuya chuckles at that, making another half ram sign. "Save your breath. Do me a favor and look down, idiot."

The fake looks down, and his eyes widen behind his mask as the ground beneath him shifts and suddenly turns into numerous paper bombs activating at the same time.

Tayuya's grin widens. "Just die, you bitch."

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

The Sannin and Anbu were waiting for the outcome of the test with said Sannin's meaning of waiting is trying to flirt his way to the young woman's heart, all the while the Anbu rejects his advances. But then suddenly, Jiraiya stops, his face slightly paling.

Yugao notices it. "What's wrong?"

"Wow, never thought I'd end up dying like that. Even if it was just a clone." He crosses his arms, looking back beyond the barrier. "She passed my test."

"She didn't use her curse mark."

Jiraiya nods.

Yugao smiles behind her mask. "I'm glad." She then looks at him. "Though I can't believe she could actually defeat the great Master Jiraiya, even if it was only just a shadow clone."

The Sannin pouts. "Hmph. I was only mediocre in that fighting style I used. And I only used my weaker jutsus on her. Plus, I was holding back as I didn't want to hurt such a pretty young thing such as herself." He puts his hand on his chin, nodding his head. "I'm such a kind-hearted man, aren't I?"

Yugao chuckles. "Yes you are, Master Jiraiya."

He smiles at her. "Hmm, yeah well, you did great too. Training her until she could defeat a shadow clone me."

"Thank you for your praise. But I think it should belong to Ikari more than I. She's a quick learner, and trains daily, though she sometimes complains about it."

He chuckles at that. "Kinda reminds me of Naruto when we're training. He's not a fast learner, but he trains every day. He complains a lot too."

"I'm sure you trained him greatly. His main technique is the Shadow Clone Jutsu, am I correct?"

Jiraiya nods, his face lighting up. "That reminds me. I have to teach Naruto the secret of that technique. That way, he'll have an advantage over your very smart protégé." He then gives a leery grin, wiggling his brow. "Among other things..."

Yugao slightly narrows her eyes. "That won't happen. Lady Hokage won't approve of _it_." She then looks to the side. "It's one of the reasons why she's kept a secret this long."

The Sannin holds up his hands. "Hey now, I was just kidding. And besides, I don't approve of _it_ either, even though the two of them reminds me of my late student and his wife."

"Yes, she reminds me of Ms. Kushina too." Her tone of voice holds a small amount of sadness.

"..."

"..."

Jiraiya heaves a sigh. He then makes a half-handed ram sign, dispelling the barrier ninjutsu. "You should go to her. Tsunade wants you to escort her to her office, right?"

Yugao nods, heading off to find her young charge.

Jiraiya looks on at her retreating form, his mind going back to his clone's fight against the girl, as well as his conversation with Tsunade last night.

* * *

_"It's also the reason why you made the girl an Anbu."_

_"To keep her close."_

_"And to keep her a secret."_

_"Yes."_

_Jiraiya leans back on his seat. "Even if she is a member of that clan, it's not an excuse to just hide her from the world. There's still something you're not telling me, Tsunade. And I want to know what that is."_

_The blonde looks at her cup of sake, before drinking up its contents. She then looks back at her teammate, telling him everything."Ikari's not really her name. It's actually Tayuya."_

_"Thought as much. You wouldn't be speaking her real name aloud if she's that important."_

_Tsunade nods. "More importantly, she was a member of the Sound Four, as well as one of Orochimaru's personal bodyguards."_

_Jiraiya frowns, narrowing his eyes. "Sound Four. I heard that they were the ones who put the barrier around Orochimaru and Sarutobi-sensei during the Chūnin Exams. If the people find out—"_

_"They won't." She cuts him off. "I won't let that happen. Not yet anyway." She shakes her head, and then looks at him. "Look Jiraiya, she's someone important. She's special."_

_"Tsunade, even if she is an Uzumaki, she still had a hand on what had happened to the village when her master tried to destroy it."_

_Tsunade was about to speak out, but Jiraiya holds up his hand._

_"But I do understand why you kept her a secret though. It's what I would do if I were in your place. But at what cost, Tsunade? What about the village?"_

_The blonde sighs, rubbing her temples. She then looks at him seriously. "Jiraiya, you've probably heard of our dealings this past month from your network."_

_"Yes." He puts a hand on his chin. "I have heard about that. You've been sending in small teams across the Land of Fire. The same is also happening in the Land of Wind."_

_She nods. "The reason why we're doing that is because we have the locations of Orochimaru's hideouts."_

_The Toad Sage's eyes slightly widen at the information._

_"We've already found and cleared three of his hideouts for the past month. Two in the Land of Fire, and one in the Land of Wind. And it's all thanks to Ikari for giving us the information."_

_Jiraiya smirks, rubbing his chin. "Orochimaru's personal guard telling us secrets we could use against him."_

_The blonde Hokage smiles. "If we cross out his lairs one by one, we'll eventually find Orochimaru and snuff him out into the open, ceasing all those experiments that he's doing and stopping him from further hurting and using the lives of people."_

_Jiraiya nods, closing his eyes and opening them again. "As well as bringing Sasuke back to the village."_

_As that was said, Tsunade looks at him in the eyes, nodding her head in agreement. "Yes, I'm doing this for Naruto as well. Sakura too and Kakashi." She then leans back on her seat. "Ikari—Tayuya Uzumaki is important, Jiraiya. There is just something about that kid the first time I met her."_

_Jiraiya inhales, and then exhales. "Alright. You've convinced me. Though I'm not putting any faith on her just yet. I need to see for myself."_

_"I understand."_

_"Good. I give her a little test tomorrow." He drinks the last of his sake, before standing up. But before he could leave, Tsunade suddenly speaks up._

_"Jiraiya, the only reason why Tayuya accepted my deal wasn't because of any debt to repay, or being a prisoner, or even learning that her clan has a deep connection to my grandfather's" She looks at him. "No, it's because she wants to meet Naruto that she agreed to sell out her former master."_

_"Naruto..."_

_Tsunade looks down, closing her eyes. "I think that Tayuya just wants a family to cope up for her loneliness. She's broken I know that, given how much she'd suffered already."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_Tsunade sighs, opening her eyes. "We had Tayuya in the village after the failed retrieval mission which was more than two years ago..."_

_Jiraiya looks at her thoughtfully. "But you've only started this campaign only about a month ago. Why?"_

_"Well, that's because when she was brought in up until the month ago, Tayuya was in a coma in all that time."_


	5. Secrets and Dealings

_**~oOo Chapter 4: Secrets and Dealings oOo~**_

Tayuya walks on ahead, her dark chocolate brown eyes gazing on the grassy forest floor as she contemplates the events that unfold just quite recently. She was thinking about that mysterious fake Anbu, wondering what his goal was and why the heck did he attack her all of a sudden. There must be a reason. One thing certain though was that he _knew_ who she really was. However, she never got her answers as the guy is now dead. But it didn't matter now that she killed him. The only thing she had to worry about is if there is anybody else besides the faker who knew of her true identity. And if there were one, she would have no choice but to kill them.

Unconsciously, a small tug of a smile appears on the corners of her mouth, which then turns into a small grin. But just as the act registers her mind, her brows scrunches down and her grin fades. While it was true that a shinobi's life is filled with countless death, there was also peace. However, for Tayuya, peace was very, very...far away.

Somehow, somewhere along the line in her seven-year career of being Orochimaru's Sound shinobi, killing had become second nature to her. Having that fight earlier on had brought something back to the sixteen-year-old. Something that was lost after she had woken up from her long slumber.

It was power. The power of her life or anybody else's in her hands. Taking the life of a person was so easy. And somehow, she enjoys the prospect of doing it. Trash and traitors should be killed, right? But, what does that make her? The only reason she had decided to even _agree_ with Tsunade's deal was because of a chance to meet the boy who they said was an Uzumaki like her. She'd give anything up. Even sell out the man who gave her the power to destroy the people who had done her wrong. However unpleasant it may seem to betray the person who gave you purpose, Tayuya did it for only one reason.

To know the truth about who she really is.

For fourteen years of her life, not counting the wasted time in that damn coma, Tayuya never knew she was an Uzumaki. She didn't even know that she had a clan to begin with. She only found out about it recently, and she desperately needed answers. Her only clue was that blond genin. And it annoys her how Tsunade won't even let her meet him.

Sighing, Tayuya comes out into a small clearing, looking up just as her senses picks up the distinct chakra signature of her Anbu guardian.

Uzuki was—how she'd put it—the only other person who has somewhat gotten close enough for the redhead to _actually_ care...if only for a little bit. Sure she didn't trust any of the Leaf bastards in this village, yet Uzuki was somehow...different. There's a mutual respect between the two. But that doesn't mean she has to behave.

Opting for her usual indifferent mask, Tayuya regards the masked woman standing just a few feet away from her. "Oh, good. _You're_ here." She puts a hand on her hip, muttering under her breath. "Would've been nice if you dropped by earlier."

Instead of a reply, the Anbu just looks at her, as if assessing if there is any signs of whatever damage the girl might have taken. The sixteen-year-old knew that she didn't look particularly clean. After that battle, who wouldn't? Uzuki will probably have questions, and the redhead didn't really have any objections to that. But the first question that came through her guardian's lips catches her off guard.

"Tayuya, why aren't you wearing any ninja sandals?" she asks curiously.

Confused at the question, Tayuya looks down, noticing that her feet were _indeed_ bare and ninja sandal-less. "Aw, shit," she mutters. She then looks northeast with a grimace. She had forgotten that she took off her sandals after that fake rat's mud attack. Right now, getting it back seems like a hassle. Or maybe she was just too lazy.

Sensing someone approaching, Tayuya turns back to look at the older woman who was walking towards her. She was about to say something, but stops when the Anbu lifts her suddenly glowing green hand, healing a cut on her left shoulder, and then moving it by her slightly bruised cheek, which earns an embarrassed scowl from the girl.

"It's fine." Tayuya swats her hand away and gently rubs the healed cheek, remembering being slugged there after she had stabbed that faker's shadow clone. "I...got these when I was attacked by an enemy ninja. But don't worry, the rat's dead." She looks to the side, not mentioning the part where the guy knew her involvement with the Snake Sannin.

From her peripheral vision, the redhead sees Uzuki just nod, which makes Tayuya suspicious. Besides being unusually quite today, the fact that she didn't seem a bit troubled by the news confirms that either she knew something about the attack or that she didn't really care what happens to her, which is unlikely considering the time spent with the woman and that the Hokage ordered to guard her.

Uzuki kept a lot of secrets—being an Anbu all—so there was a chance that she was doing it right now. Hell, she didn't even know the woman's real name! Tayuya knew that they didn't trust her. Who would? Not that she give a shit anyway. They can use her however they want. The only thing she wants in return is for them to keep their end of the deal.

As if sensing the slight tension in the air, Uzuki speaks up. "Tayuya, is there something wrong?"

The redhead frowns, looking back at the woman and trying to gauge any reaction or clue based on her body language. "I'm fine, but..." She pauses for a moment. "Anyway, you Leafheads should improve your village's security." A light smirk forms her lips. "I mean, it was too damn easy to enter when _we_ snuck in to get the Uchiha."

The last comment seems to get the Anbu's attention as she looks at her. "Hmm, it is as you say..." She pauses, and then nods lightly. "I'll inform Lady Hokage about heightening the village's security when we head over to her office."

Tayuya slightly tilts her head. "We?"

Uzuki nods. "Yes, Lady Hokage wishes to talk with you. And I'm here to escort you to her office."

At the mention of meeting the busted blonde, Tayuya automatically rolls her eyes. "What does _she_ want this time? If this is about the way I behaved yesterday, then bullshit. I just met the bitch who buried and left me in a pile of big freaking sliced up logs!" She crosses her arms, a small pout forming her lips as she looks to away. "No thanks."

Seeing that, a chuckle escapes the woman's lips, which earns a raised brow from the redheaded girl. Uzuki just shakes her head. "I sometimes forget that even when you're sixteen, you still have a mind and heart of a fourteen-year-old."

She scoffs at that. "What does _that_ even have to do with anything?"

She shakes her head again. "Never mind." She then tries to place a hand over the girl's hair, but Tayuya grunts and moves aside, giving the woman a glare. Moving her hand back to her side, she straightens up her posture, returning in all seriousness. "Anyway, I know you'll be interested in what Lady Hokage has to say this time."

Still frowning, Tayuya waits to hear what her purple-haired guardian was going on about. But when the answer comes, the sixteen-year-old Anbu immediately heads over to confront the Slug Sannin for some answers.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Four blurs pass through the trees in an amazing speed that could only be seen in a ninja. It will take one or two days by which they can reach their destination, the Hidden Sand Village.

Kakashi leads the group of four. Two of which is his squad members who were at the front, while the other beside him was Temari, the ambassador of the Sand, as well as the older sister of the Fifth Kazekage. He looks at the two teens at the front. "Naruto. Sakura. Listen up you two." When the two look back at him, he continues. "Our mission is simple. Secure Orochimaru's hideout in the Hidden Sand."

"Well, that sounds easy enough." Naruto grins.

Sakura gives the blond a half-hearted glare. "Don't get so cocky, Naruto. Remember who we're talking about. The guy's a crazy S-class shinobi. Not only that, he's one of the three legendary Sannin, as well as the former student of the Third Hokage."

Naruto slightly pouts at being berated by his pink-haired teammate. "Yeah, yeah." He then mutters under his breath, "You don't have to be so mean about it, you know."

Unfortunately, Sakura's ears pick it up. "Huh? What was that?"

Kakashi sighs as Sakura bonks Naruto on the head with the latter crying in pain. He sighs again. Some things never really did change. He clears his throat to get the two teens' attention. "Anyway, before we explore the hideout, we're gonna head over to the Sand Village first and meet up with the Kazekage. He's our client after all. Once there, he'll give us more information they've gathered about their findings." Glancing at the blonde beside him, he eye smiles. "Right, Temari?"

The eighteen-year-old just looks at him. "Y-Yeah." She looks back up ahead. "Before I left my village for the Chūnin Exams, I heard that they've located one by the Sandy Plains." She lets out a smirk. "It's all according to what your source said." She lightly shakes her head. "I can't believe you guys got Intel like this."

Kakashi just nods.

A moment of silence passes by, and Naruto looks back between the two jōnins. "Source? What do you guys mean by getting Intel like this?"

Sakura looks at her blond teammate, green eyes slightly widening. "Oh that's right. You just got back from the training trip with Master Jiraiya so you don't know yet what happened."

The genin shakes his head in confirmation.

Sakura puts her index finger by her chin, searching through her memories. "Hmm, well. Last month, Lady Tsunade suddenly revealed some Intel regarding the location of Orochimaru's hideouts. When asked about this, she only said that it came from a reliable source. Who that might be, I have no idea. Lady Tsunade seems keen on keeping it a secret." She looks at Naruto. "I guess whoever it is has his or her life in danger for telling something like that." She then looks back up ahead. "After that, teams were sent in to investigate the areas. As of now, there are three hideouts already cleared."

"Oh, I see." He nods his head, but then his brows scrunches down as a thought occurred to him. "So uh, how come Gaara is our client when Grandma was the one who ordered to search it in the first place?"

As that was said, Sakura shakes her head and sighs.

Confused, Naruto looks at the pink-haired chūnin, and then at his jōnin sensei.

Kakashi was about to explain it to him, but Temari beats him to it. "It's quite simple really. I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet."

He pouts at the insult.

Temari continues. "Like what your pink-haired teammate said. Gaara accepted a meeting with the Hokage when she approached him about it. She shared with him the Intel regarding the location of Orochimaru's hideouts. Apparently, there are a total of three scattered across the Land of Wind. One of which by the way is already secured. Eventually, the two came into an agreement. Both the Sand and Leaf would divert some of their ninja and resources to search and secure the hideouts with each focusing on their respective lands. But if for some reason one would need assistance, the other will respond at the request." She then looks at the blond genin. "I'm guessing this is one of those."

Naruto slightly nods. "Okay. I think I get it now."

Temari nods. "With this new Intel, the Sand Village will finally have the chance to capture or kill the man who betrayed us and murdered my...the late Kazekage." She closes her eyes for a moment, and then opens them again, looking at her companions. "It's the same with you guys, right? About the Third Hokage..."

Kakashi nods in agreement, his voice soft. "Right. It'll also be a chance to finally find my wayward student."

There was a silence in the air as the four continue on their journey. All were in deep thought. For Naruto, he was thinking about his sensei's words. The part about a chance to finding _him_...

Naruto looks back up ahead, eyes set with new determination. They have a chance to finally find Sasuke.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Tayuya barges inside Tsunade's office uninvited. She didn't care whether or not the woman was busy talking to somebody else. She'd force her to listen and tell her what she needed to know.

Two pairs of eyes land on her while the redheaded girl half-heartedly glares at the blonde who was sitting behind her desk. To say that Tsunade was surprised was an understatement. Of course, she expected the brash sixteen-year-old to come. But still, she expected enough decency for the girl to knock and announce that she was coming in, not just suddenly barge in unattended. In a way, she was somewhat like Naruto. But at least the fifteen-year-old brat had some respect. The girl on the other hand had no manners whatsoever.

The Hokage quickly composes herself, and then looks at the spiky black-haired jōnin she was talking to. "You're dismissed, Asuma."

Asuma Sarutobi nods in understanding. He looks at the new girl, and then moves aside, walking out of the room, but not before raising an eyebrow at the girl's choice of footwear.

As the door closes, Tayuya moves toward the blonde. Tsunade notes the permanent scowl glued on the girl's face. Weaving her fingers together, she eyes the redhead, waiting for her to burst at any second. But as she looks her over, she notices the missing pieces of her outfit. "Ikari, why isn't your mask on? And why the heck are you walking around with your bare feet?"

Tayuya blinks back her eyes. She then looks down at her bare feet. "Oh, this is..." She shakes her head, scowling. "Don't change the subject!" She slams her hands on top of the desk, glaring at the woman. "Naruto. What I want to know about is when I'll get to meet Naruto."

Frowning at her loud voice, the blonde scratches the side of her head. "Well, you've already met him..."

She scowls. "Bullshit. I didn't even get a chance to speak with him after you dismissed me so suddenly. It also didn't help when that bitch showed her damn face up. You know how much I loathe that woman?"

The Hokage sighs and rubs her temple. "I wasn't talking about that."

"I mean, I—uh...what?" Tayuya leans back, confused. "What do you mean?"

"This morning you disobeyed my orders and went to meet up with Naruto anyway. Am I right?" She eyes the girl, who visibly stiffens. "I get that you wanting to meet him. He _is_ after all the same clan as you and is your only connection to it. That was part of the deal, right? But you have to understand how delicate your situation is right now. Not everyone will accept you living here, especially if they learn who you had worked for," she says a matter of fact.

Hearing that, the girl's shoulders slump down, brows scrunched down. "I know."

"And you _know_ the reason why I kept you a secret in the first place."

She just nods. "You said it yourself. Keeping me a secret is for my own protection. After all, it's been only a month since I woke up. I need time to prove my...loyalties." She looks away. "That's why you gave me that six month probation."

"..."

Tayuya looks at the Hokage. "So what do you plan on doing to me now that I somehow made a mess of things by seeing a _guy_?" The redhead frowns at how wrong that sounded, but immediately shakes it off. "As much as I hate to admit it, when I agreed to that deal, I basically gave my life in your hands."

Tsunade sighs again, "Actually, what I plan on doing next is for you to meet Naruto?"

Tayuya looks at the blonde incredulously. "Huh? What? But I thought..."

"I'm going to let you meet him." She leans back on her chair. "Now that he knows about you and that you're not just another face in the crowd, there's no point in keeping you two separate just to keep your secret safer, especially when he's keen on getting information about what you were trying to say to him after that whole love letter thing."

Tayuya's eyes widen, her cheeks turning a reddish color at the word 'love letter'. "Y-You know about that?"

A smirk forms across the blonde's lips. "He told me _all_ about it when he stopped here, saying he wanted to know more about that mysterious Anbu girl with long pretty red hair."

Tayuya turns even redder at the last comment.

"If this was any normal situation, I'd say that the two of you seem to have a thing for each other." She teases.

Tayuya scowls, but the blush could still be seen on her cheeks. "Shut up. It wasn't a love letter. And I don't think about him that way! Or anyone for that matter," she mumbles the last part.

Tsunade raises an eyebrow, but didn't comment any further.

Breathing in and out, Tayuya composes herself, crossing her arms. "A-Anyway, so why the sudden change? Didn't you have everything already planned out?"

"I did." She eyes the girl in all seriousness, not explaining any further than that. "There won't be any more changes as long as you do your part. You just worry about staying on a low profile. At least until after your probation is done and you're an official shinobi of this village."

"That's five more months of hide and pretend I'm somebody named Ikari."

She smirks. "I'm glad that we see eye-to-eye."

Tayuya lightly pouts, but shrugs it anyway. "So..."

"So?"

"So..." She looks somewhat hopeful. "When do I get to meet _him_?"

"Ah." Now Tsunade understands. "When he gets back from his mission."

Tayuya frowns at that. "Wait. So he's not in the village?"

"Apparently, you just missed him."

"Where did he go?"

"Well, now that's classified."

Tayuya scowls, but lets it slide. The important thing here is that the busted blonde finally approved of her meeting him. After that, when she _does_ finally meet him, then...

"Tayuya."

The redhead turns her attention back at the Hokage. The older woman doesn't usually use her real name so it was a surprise to hear it now. She probably has something more important to say.

Tsunade leans forward, lacing her fingers together. "You know, I've been thinking about this for a while now..."

Tayuya shifts her weight to her other leg, waiting for the older woman to continue.

The blonde closes her eyes for a moment, and then opens them again. "Tayuya...what are you exactly planning on doing once you meet Naruto?"

The question seems to strike deep for some odd reason. Tayuya was about to answer it as easily as it was in her head. But now that she thinks about it, what _would_ she do once she met the guy. For one, she would ask him about their clan...

"I'm guessing once you've met him, you'll probably ask him questions about the Uzumaki Clan," Tsunade says, as if reading her thoughts.

Her dark brown eyes slightly widen, but she brushes it off and nods an affirmative. "Why? What's wrong with that?"

The older woman sighs, which makes the redhead uneasy, "You do know that Naruto lives alone. He doesn't have a family. He grew up as an orphan."

"What're you trying to say exactly?" she asks, the pit of her stomach squeezing uncomfortably. "Are you saying that...he doesn't know anything?"

Tsunade nods. "Even though he is born of Uzumaki blood, there was nobody there to tell him about his heritage."

"So what? Both of us are in the dark!" she yells, eyes sharp and burning inside.

The blonde was taken aback at how strongly the girl reacted.

Seeing no reaction, Tayuya takes a step back. No. This was not how she imagined it to be. Her eyes darken. She needed answers dammit! "Wh-What about that Uzumaki were distant blood relatives of the Leaf's Senju crap you told me?!" She places a hand over her face, her voice now dejected. "You _must_ know something."

Tsunade was about to answer, but the sudden appearance of Yugao, followed by a knock on her door, stops her.

The purple-haired Anbu taps the younger girl's shoulder, signaling for her to put the mask on. Not really in the mood of arguing, Tayuya complies, taking her cat mask by her hip and putting it on just as the door opens.

There stood a frail old man with a cane. He had black shaggy hair, his right eye was bandaged, and had an x-shaped scar on his chin. He wore a white shirt with a dark grey robe over the top, covering his feet to over his right shoulder.

The old man walks inside, taking note of the two Anbu, before looking at the blonde Hokage sitting behind her desk.

Tsunade frowns at the old war hawk's sudden appearance. "Danzō."

"Tsunade." The man equally stares back.

"To what do I owe you this visit?" Though her face was calm and indifferent, her tone of voice says otherwise.

But the old man wasn't affected by the obvious disdain. He more of ignores it for the matter. "I'm here to discuss something important with you, and it cannot wait."

Sighing inwardly, Tsunade looks at the purple-haired Anbu, giving her a nod to leave.

Yugao nods an affirmative and directs her redhead companion to leave with her, which the girl grudgingly obeys.

"Tch, fine," she mutters under her breath. However, as they were about to leave, she feels an intense glare coming at their direction. Tayuya looks up at the old man's sharp beady black eye directed solely on her. A bit of sweat drips down her forehead underneath her mask. And it...unnerved her.

"Princess Tsunade, I see that your new Anbu is not only poorly equipped…" He references her walking with her bare feet. "But also does not have any decency to show respect to those above her." Danzō shifts his gaze to the blonde Hokage. "If I were in your place, I would have had them immediately corrected. You're too soft. Just like your conflict-shy and indecisive teacher."

A tick mark appears on Tsunade's forehead, trying to contain her anger. She takes a glance at her two Anbu, to which Yugao nods and makes a half-handed ram sign, making them disappear in a poof of smoke and leaving behind the elder man and the blonde alone.

Inhaling a deep breath, Tsunade eyes the old war hawk. "So, what do you want?"

Danzō closes his eye. "Hmph, I will make this visit short. There will be a council meeting held at the war room the day after tomorrow. The Hokage is expected to be there of course. And I...will be there as well."

Tsunade scrunches her brows, but didn't comment any further. "Very well. Is there anything more you have to say?"

A small smile appears on the old man's face. "For now, that is all." He slowly turns back around, heading towards the door. "I'll take my leave."

As Danzō exits the room, Tsunade let's out a frustrated sigh. Not only does she have to attend a meeting that will probably give her more headaches, but she also will have to see those _two_ old bags again. Which of course will probably double the headache. Seriously, the old retired shinobi in this village are snobby stiffs.

Exhaling some air, she swivels her chair around to face the window. She catches sight of the two forms of Yugao and Tayuya jumping from building to building.

Tayuya...she had misread the girl's intentions, thinking that with how withdrawn and alone she was to everyone else, but only wanted to meet Naruto, Tsunade thought that she wanted his company since they both _were_ Uzumakis. But it was clear now what the girl really had wanted from their end of the deal was information. Information that she couldn't give. Not that she was forbidden to, no. There was just nothing to give.

Even though she was of Uzumaki decent through her grandmother, Tsunade never learned that side of her clan. There were secrets kept even between the alliance of the Senju and Uzumaki. When her grandmother had an arranged marriage with her grandfather, she was forbidden to teach her seed the secrets of her clan.

Tsunade had never understood this inner politics between clans. It all gives her a major headache. But one for certain is that she would have to keep an eye on Tayuya for now. Knowing the girl, she would probably do something now that what she really wants in return cannot be given.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

The old war hawk walks around one of the corridors of the Academy. He slowly comes to a stop, turning his head over to the open window. There, he sees the two figures of the Anbu who were inside the Hokage's office earlier on. "Hyō."

A black-cloaked person with a cat-like mask suddenly appears from the shadows. "Yes, my Lord."

Danzō narrows his one eye, never leaving his gaze upon the two, particularly the younger Anbu. "Keep an eye on those two. Report if there are any irregularities."

The foundation member nods an affirmative. "Understood, Lord Danzō. Is that all, my Lord?"

The old man ponders for a moment, before nodding lightly. "Find any information about Tsunade's new Anbu."

"By your will."

As the man quietly disappears in the shadows, Danzō takes one last look outside the window, before proceeding his slow walk outside.

* * *

**AN:**

**Oh no! Danzo appears! GASP! I wonder what he's scheme this time XP**

**And Tayuya reveals that the only reason she wanted to meet our blond Hero is to find out any information regarding their clan. Oh my, now how will this ever be the start of their romance?**

**Next time, Team Kakashi will be in the Suna for sure X)**

**Also, just a thought, am I making this story too complicated?**

**Hopefully—get your fingers crossed—I can get the next chapter updated quickly.**


	6. The Sand Hideout

**AN:**

**My life is about to become very busy, especially by early to mid April, and the end of May and beyond, so I may or may not be able to update my stories when I say so in my profile. But don't worry as I won't give this story up, and I'll give my best in writing and updating this until the end.**

**Thank you for the favorites, follows, and reviews.**

**Danzo has plans...**

**Orochimaru &amp; Sasuke...**

**The Akatsuki on the other hand are...**

**And Naruto and Tayuya are still apart :P  
**

* * *

_**~oOo Chapter 5: The Sand Hideout oOo~**_

The dark night sky encompasses all as the rays of light disappear from view. But as darkness rules, the twinkling light of the stars paints the view above, shining its feeble light all throughout the land. A big gleaming moon shines its brightest down the sleepy forest, not detecting a single stir or any movement whatsoever. But as the night draws nigh, four silhouettes suddenly fly by underneath the canopy of trees.

Kakashi keeps a close eye around the area. Everything is silent. Not a sound or any movement whatsoever. Nothing to be alarmed at or anything conspicuous to bring any of their attention to. Turning back to look on ahead, he notices the gradual change of the air, becoming drier, and the trees seem less as they go by. Signs that suggest of transitioning between the two lands. It was then that Temari raise the unspoken agreement that hovered over the four shinobi.

"We're almost near the border to the Land of Wind," she says, "I suggest we stop and rest."

Kakashi nods. "Alright. We'll camp for the night and continue by dawn. I'll take first watch."

With that, the four drop down to the forest floor, the three teens making a make-shift camp fire with the Leaf jōnin making rounds around the area. After their source of heat is established, the teens make themselves comfortable.

Naruto drops his bag and sits down at the base of a tree, laying his head at its bark. He looks at the stars twinkling in the dark sky above and wonders what they might find tomorrow once they're at the hideout, whether they find anything regarding the Snake Sannin or not, a clue, a sign, anything that will help. All these things are buzzing around the blond's head, keeping him awake. But soon enough, it gradually shifts away from Orochimaru, the hideout, and even away from Sasuke. His train of thought wanders over a certain redheaded girl that's been lingering on the back of his mind ever since they first met the day before.

Sighing softly, Naruto closes his eyes. His mind pictures the girl in his head, trying to sharpen all the features and fine details of her being, to look past behind that mask, but only to find...a blank face.

He opens his eyes, his right hand unconsciously going up to touch the right side of his face. That's right. He doesn't know what's behind the mask. It could be anything, ranging from gigantic luscious red lips to large bucktooth teeth.

He immediately covers his mouth with both hands, his expression anything but dainty as he tries to contain the laugher from bursting out.

Temari and Sakura notice the sudden change in their companion's mood, the former shaking her head and going back to lie and rest while the latter raising her brow in question.

Naruto rubs the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. "Hehe, it's nothing, Sakura. I uh...just remembered when you, me, and Sasuke tried to find out what's behind Kakashi-sensei's mask."

Hearing that said, a smile paints the medic nin's face. She chuckles softly. "Yeah. Those were the days when Team Seven was still..." Trailing off, she looks down at the ground.

Naruto goes silent as well.

Moments later, Sakura bounces back with a smile that didn't quite seem to reach up her eyes. "A-Anyway. Go to sleep, Naruto. It's gonna be a long and busy day tomorrow." Without waiting for any reply, she lies back down as well.

Naruto nods and proceeds to lie back at the bark of the tree. Crossing his arms, he closes his eyes and wills for sleep to take him. Gradually, it works as his mind drifts of to peaceful slumber. But soon enough, a small smile makes its way to his face as his dreams take on the shape of the Anbu girl.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

An odd sounding noise stirs the fifteen-year-old genin out of his sleep. He looks up from the ground, which he found himself sleeping on, to see his sensei putting out the campfire they had made last night. Yawning, he stretches out his arms above his head.

Kakashi turns his attention to the blond, eye smiling after the fire dies down. "I take it you had a goodnight's rest?"

Naruto nods his head, standing up and stretching his sleepy limbs awake. "Morning, sensei." He lets out another yawn and scratches the top of his head as he looks around the area. It is still dark all around, the stars but a few, and the moon being half-covered by dark clouds. Across from him, Temari is sitting down at a base of a tree, cleaning her giant folding fan with a cloth while his sensei stands up from his crouch. Naruto looks around the area again a second time. "Huh? Where's Sakura?"

"Sakura's taking watch, Naruto," Kakashi answers, "She'll probably be back soon. I told her that we'll be leaving once dawn breaks."

"Oh." He looks to the side, putting his hands inside his pockets. "She could've woken me up. I could have taken watch instead of her."

Without looking up from what she's doing, Temari suddenly comments. "She couldn't wake you even if she wanted to. You slept like a rock and kept mumbling something about red not being her hair color, or something like that." She shrugs.

He scratches the side of his head. "I don't remember saying that. I guess...I was just dreaming about her..." His words trail off as he tries to remember what kind of dream he exactly had.

Kakashi raises his only visible eyebrow, but doesn't comment any further and is about to leave it at that. However, his student asks him the question he knew he would be hearing soon.

"Kakashi-sensei."

"Hmm?" He turns back around to look at him. "What is it?"

Looking down at the side, Naruto rubs the back of his neck. "Well...I already know that Granny will answer my questions when we get back, but..." He looks up at him. "Do you know anything about her?"

"Her?"

He shrugs. "I don't know her name. I remember Grandma saying it, but I don't think I can remember."

Kakashi lightly tilts his head to the side, getting a good picture of _who_ he's talking about. "You mean...Ikari?"

He lights up. "Yeah, her. The Anbu girl with the red hair. I wanted to ask you if you know something about her."

From her position, Temari stops what's she's doing and looks at them, joining in on their conversation. "I'm curious too. After all, she was the one who threatened me all of a sudden." Standing up, she places her fan at her back and walks over to them, her expression turning serious. "From yesterday's conversation, the girl clearly recognizes me, although I can't say the same thing with her." She shakes her head. "And it's obvious that she has some kind of grudge." She crosses her arms, shifting her weight to one leg. "The question is, have you any idea why?"

"Hmm..." Putting both hands in his pockets, Kakashi looks up as if thinking over what the blonde jōnin had said. "Maybe the reason she doesn't like you is because you did something she didn't like." Temari was about to retort, but the copy ninja holds up a hand as he continues. "With that said, either you are aware of it or not, whether you actually _did_ whatever the reason it was for why she has a grudge with you in the first place. But the fact remains that she _thinks_ you did something to her that would merit that kind of response like yesterday, so..."

"So?" She raises an eyebrow.

"So, the only good option here..." He eye smiles. "Is to leave it be."

Temari frowns at that as nothing was accomplished by their little discussion.

The copy nin just shrugs. "She can't really do anything much, considering both your rank and status. So it's best to leave everything as it is."

The blonde holds her stare for but a moment, before heaving a sigh. "Alright. You have a point." But then shakes her head. "Still...I can't help but watch my back when I return to the Leaf for the Chūnin Selection Exams." She then turns to Naruto. "Speaking of which, I'm surprised you're not joining in." Her teal blue eyes softening. "But I guess you need a team of three to participate."

Naruto lightly nods, eyes cast down. "Yeah."

Temari inwardly cringes at the awkward situation she unintentionally created. "Yeah, well...maybe next time." She then smiles. "The lazy escort assigned to me would surely help you."

At hearing the girl metion Shikamaru, Naruto couldn't help but put a wide grin instead of a sad face. "So. You guys are dating." It wasn't a question. It's a statement.

Kakashi could only watch as the Sand ambassador stared, glared, and then berated the blond for saying something as stupid as that. He chuckles softly, but it was just for a small moment as the copy nin's expression turns serious. It's a good thing the subject changed. The truth is he actually does have an idea as he know the reason why Ikari, or Tayuya, despises the sandy blond jōnin. After all, he had read all the reports from the failed retrieval mission that got his student almost killed. Speaking of which...

He looks at Naruto who is rubbing the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. He was asking things that Lady Tsunade didn't want to reveal to him yet. And he'll probably continue asking it until he gets an answer. And with the way even his dreams were of her, the boy is clearly distracted, though he probably doesn't know it himself.

Kakashi looks up at the sky as light starts to slowly bleed out the darkness. He really hopes that the Hokage knows what she's doing. But for now, Naruto needs to concentrate on their current mission. He then eyes smiles. And what better way for that than to use an incentive.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Temari had already gone on ahead to prepare their audience with the Kazekage. As of now, he is currently in a meeting with its council of elders while the trio of Leaf ninja is accommodated to wait inside his office. Team Kakashi had arrived at the Hidden Sand Village two hours past noon in good time. It is a good thing too that they left early at dawn or else they might've been caught in the sandstorm that is now raging outside. It's only been ten to fifteen minutes—give or take—that they've been staying inside. The Sand ninja that escorted them here told them the meeting wouldn't take too long and that Lord Kazekage would shortly be with them soon.

Naruto sits idly on a chair by the right side of the room, one foot over on his other knee with his elbow propped up on it as he lazily cups the right side of his face. He looks around the area, noting how clean and organized it looked compared to Grandma Tsunade's office. He smiles lightly, snickering on the inside.

Beside him, Sakura is looking at the room as well, while their sensei is busy reading the new edition of the Make-Out series that Naruto had given him. Shaking his head, he wonders how people could even read books as perverted as the Pervy Sage is. He wonders why his sensei loved it, as well as other people who read them. He couldn't even stand how boring it was the first few pages with the Pervy Sage disdainfully telling him that he's too young to understand love, passion, lust, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…

His train of thought is suddenly broken as footsteps could be heard coming from outside the room. Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi all look towards the door as it opens up. An auburn-haired Kage enters inside the room, and the trio of Leaf ninja stands up from their seats. Naruto smiles, looking over at the boy who is the same as him, who shares the same pain as him. And now, he finally achieved the rank of Kage.

Grinning, he waves a greeting. "Hey! Long time no see, Gaara!"

A tick mark appears on Sakura's forehead, and she suddenly headlocks the poor blond. "Idiot! Show some respect why don't ya!"

"U-U-Ugh...S-Sak-kura-ch-chan..." Naruto repeatedly taps the wrapped arm around his neck, his face turning quite blue.

Sakura notices this and immediately lets him go. Naruto gasps for air, his complexion returning normal, and Kakashi could only chuckle in response.

Gaara watches as the scene unfold. When finished, and all is said and normal as could be, he gives them a curt nod and makes his way behind his desk with the trio following suite to stand at the front. Once there, he looks over them, his gaze lingering for a few seconds on his fellow container who is still rubbing his neck while his pink-haired teammate shoots him looks of apologies.

He turns his attention to all three of them. "I welcome you to the Hidden Sand Village. I'm sorry that it took me this long, but I trust that you three were treated well."

"Yes," Kakshi says, "Our escort was a very well-mannered young kunoichi."

A small rare smile lights up Gaara's face. "Yes, she is indeed." A moment soon passes, and his smile drops, his expression turning neutral again. "Now, on to the matter at hand." He sits down on his chair and gathers the necessary documents, giving them to the older shinobi.

Kakashi accepts it, taking a quick scan.

"A week ago, we've located one of the two remaining hideouts Orochimaru had hidden throughout the Land of Wind. Sand shinobi were sent to investigate it, however..." He pauses, and then closes his eyes.

Kakashi's expression turns serious, while Sakura and Naruto have solemn looks.

He opens them again. "From the reports of the surviving recon squad, it is said that there are numerous traps laid within the base, even in the safe areas. It would be best if a team composing of sensor units are sent inside to limit any casualties as possibly can. But as of now, with a very limited number of those units to spare, I considered a request for aide regarding this matter."

"And that's why we're here to help." Naruto grins, pumping up his fist. "So, what are we waiting for?"

"But hold on." Sakura places a hand on her chin. "This doesn't add up." She looks at Gaara. "You need sensor type shinobi, right? But I don't think the three of us...well, mostly Naruto and I, don't qualify in that area of expertise."

Gaara laces his fingers together, slightly nodding his head. "I am fully aware of that."

She looks at him with confusion. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Kakashi answers, "What Gaara means is that he thinks we're qualified enough to continue on with the mission."

"Yes." The Kage nods. "I would that you three investigate the hideout along with four other Sand shinobi. They will meet you at the main gate at fifteen hundred. Any questions?" When none answered, he leans back on his chair. "Then you three are dismissed. Prepare if you must. I'll have your quarters ready when you get back." With that, the young Kazekage resumes his paper work.

Naruto could only look at how serious a Kage's work is as he didn't much credit the old man and Granny. But seeing how Gaara handles it, a ninja who's no older than he is, he couldn't help but rethink that the job of being the Hokage is as easy as it sounds in his head.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

The desert is a harsh place to be in, the stark white sun always burning down with the dusty air sometimes getting caught in the eyes, especially if there's a sandstorm brewing. But as of the now, it died down a while ago with only a hot breeze sweeping by, making it easier for the team of Sand and Leaf shinobi to cross the vast desert and reach their destination. Unlike the other places in the desert which height of the sand dunes are uneven and all over the place—as it name says—the Sandy Plains is flat and even as the plains below a valley, stretching wide to the farthest distance. Somewhere in the middle of it all is one of the hideouts of the snake sannin.

"So this is it," Naruto mutters under his breath, staring at the tree-sized hole on the ground. He then looks at the squad leader beside him. "Eh, how do we even get inside? It's all plugged up with sand."

The squad leader, as well as one of Gaara's older siblings, Kankuro, just smirks, pointing at one of his team members who then makes her way near the blocked entrance of the hideout. "Just watch and see what we Sand shinobi can do."

Gathering up her chakra, the kunoichi makes some hand signs, and then claps her hands together. "Ha!" A gust of suddenly picks up, creating a swirling vortex over the hole. Soon, the sand inside gets sucked into the vortex, making it bigger and bigger as it mixes in with the wind.

Naruto looks in awe as the small gust of wind turned into a full-blown four-meter sand twister. "Th-That's...so cool."

Kankuro just smirks, and looks on as the kunoichi makes another set of hand signs, making the sand twister gradually disperse into the wind.

The six members of the recon team walk towards the wind user. She looks back at them with a smile. "Entrance cleared."

Kankuro nods at her. "Good work, Sayamari." He turns to the rest of the group. "It's a fifteen foot drop down there, and once we go down, we'll activate the barrier Urenji will place over the entrance. Sandstorms will come and go, and it'll be bad for us if we ended up trapped inside when a sandstorm covers it up again."

With that, Team Kakashi and three of the Sand ninja jump down the hole. Moments later, Urenji follows after them down. He then makes a half-handed ram sign, activating the barrier placed over the entrance.

Naruto looks around area where they had landed. The room is circular with sand littered near the walls around. Five doors stand equally at one side of the room.

"Alright." Kankuro looks at everybody. "Remember what the plan is. Secure the main control room first and deactivate the traps. You'll know when it's done. After that, we'll regroup here and report back. Remember the symbols. There are many traps hidden, even in the safe areas. But its better to search these places rather than run around corridors leading to more traps and dead ends."

"And that's why we're here," Kakashi says, who then bites his thumb and makes a boar, dog, bird, monkey, and ram hand sign, slamming his palm on the ground. A poof of smoke appears, and as it fades away, it leaves a pack of eight hounds in its wake.

"Ah!" A wide smile paints Naruto's face. "Pakkun!"

"Yo, Naruto. Long time no see." The small brown pug-like dog greets. "You too, Sakura."

"Hey." The chūnin smiles.

"Alrightly, I'll explain the team makeup now," Kakashi says. "Since there are five doors, we'll split up into five teams. Four will pair off. Sakura and Sayamari, and Gurei and Urenji, while the rest are on individual teams. You will each have two of my dog summons with you at all times. I'll have Pakkun, and since Gurei is a sensor type shinobi, you and Urenji can have Bull added to you." He eye smiles. "So then make sure you little kids will play nice and get along."

The intimidating black bulldog walks up to the two Sand shinobi.

Gurei sweats a bit. "Eh, nice ninja dog."

Bull just barks a reply.

"You can count on me, Sakura-chan, Sayamari-chan!" Shiba happily says as he walks over to the two kunoichi, Ūhei following suite.

"Jeez, can't he just shut up for one second?" Biscuit comments as he goes over to Naruto with Urushi.

"I'll go with Kankuro," Akino coolly says. Guroko nods in agreement as they head over to the puppet master.

After that, the five teams head over to their respective doors. But before they enter, their squad leader tells them one thing more before they separate. "Be careful, all of you. See that we all head back by sundown."

"We can't really tell time when we're underground." Sayamari jokes.

Kankuro just nods, and with that, the recon team splits up.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Naruto looks around the area, pointing a flashlight in front of them. They are down inside a long and wide dim corridor. Ahead opens up into a large room, while behind them, darkness slowly creeps up as they move forward. And as they near the end of the corridor, the two ninja hounds stop in their tracks, making Naruto—who's behind them—stop as well.

"Trip wires dead ahead." Urushi growls.

Narrowing his eyes, Biscuit sniffs the air. "They're mainly on the right side of the room, so its better if we take the left way out." The tan-colored ninja hound runs to the left side of the room.

Naruto and Urushi follows suite, entering another corridor that looks quite same as the one they were in moments ago. They go left, right, right, forward, left, and so on. Soon, Naruto couldn't help but voice out the thought that's been on his mind.

"Hey, how do you guys even know where to go? Everything here looks the same to me. I'm not even sure if I can remember the places we've been to or even make the way back."

Continuing his walk, Biscuit slows down a bit and looks back at the blond genin. "Eh? We're not really expecting you to memorize the entire hideout. What's important is to look out for the right symbols."

"Oh, uh...yeah, the symbols, right..." Naruto slowly comes to a halt. The two ninja hounds stops as well, looking at him questioningly. The blond rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Kakashi-sensei might've mentioned those on the way to the Sand village, but I was...kinda distracted...so I probably need a refresher or two."

Hearing that, Urushi shakes his head and continues walking. "You should get your head out of the clouds, kid. We're on a mission."

Naruto just nods and follows him, turning down a corner to an open area where four other paths are set.

Biscuit cautiously moves forward, taking a sniff here and there. When he deems it safe, he inspects the four exits, and then glances back at the blond. "Naruto, you see that symbol on the exit at the farthest right?"

Walking up near the ninja hound, Naruto searches for it.

"It's by the top wall just above the opening," Urushi says.

Naruto narrows his eyes as he examines that part. At first glance, a person would totally miss it. But if you look closely enough, they would see that the design patterns of the walls would stop at a point and form a small circle with a horizontal view of a hook-like shape inside it.

"I see it." Naruto points out. "It's that hook thing right above the doorway."

Biscuit nods his head. "Yeah. That means there's nothing in there but traps and dead ends. There are different kinds of symbols inside the hideout. You just have to find the right one." He looks back at the other three doorways. "These two on the left don't seem to have any symbols on it so it's a fifty-fifty. But with how armed and rigged the whole place is just by looking back at the ones we've passed through, I think our chances of it being trapless is only ten percent."

"That, and because we haven't found the main switch to turn all these damn things off." Urushi growls.

"What about the third path?" Naruto points out. "There's a diagonal line at the side."

Biscuit walks toward it, examining the symbol. He tilts his head to the side. "Hmm...I don't think I know this one, but..." He looks down the corridor and sniffs the air, staring at the darkness before running on ahead.

Urushi quickly follows, and Naruto follows as well. He could hear the light brown dog berating the smaller ninja hound, telling him to slow down. Naruto soon catches up and finds them at a stand still at the middle of a junction. He walks up to them, flashing his light at the surrounding walls.

Biscuit and Urushi sniffs the air, walking towards the northern path.

Naruto flashes his light at that direction. "I'm guessing that's the right way."

Urushi lightly nods his head. "Stay on your paws. I have a bad feeling about this."

"You're always negative about things," Biscuit says, making him growl.

The three tread cautiously down the corridor, avoiding some trip wires on the way. When they reach the end, they find themselves at a large room with pillars lining up on both sides. Throughout the walls are head of snakes with unlit candles in their eye sockets. At the far end however is a large double door made up of metal.

"What do you think's behind it?" Naruto asks as they head towards it. He holds out his hand to push it open. But as it nears, electricity fly out, making the blond to recoil back in pain. "Ah!"

Urushi growls. "A barrier ninjutsu. We can't proceed any further."

Biscuit sighs, "We'll just have to wait until someone knows how to deactivate it."

"If the barrier's still activated, then it means that something important to Orochimaru is on the other side." Naruto comments.

Biscuit's eyes widen. "That explains why this hideout has active traps unlike the other two in the Land of Fire. That snake left something inside here, and I bet he'll come back sometime to retrieve...or visit...whatever it is."

"For now, we'll have to move on," Urishi says, looking at the two. "Backtrack to the junction earlier."

Biscuit nods and heads back toward the corridor with Urushi. Naruto follows as well, but not before looking back one last time at the sealed door.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

The three continued their search, finding nothing more of interest but only endless junctions and corridors. They explored, backtracked, detected and avoided traps. Even with following the paths with the safe symbols on the walls, nothing came out of their search.

As they walk along the corridor, a grumbling sound suddenly fills the stiff air. The two ninja hounds look back at their blond companion, who then rubs the back of his head sheepishly, chuckling. "Eheheh. I guess I'm kinda getting hungry." He places his hand over his stomach. "I haven't had any since this morning."

Urushi looks back at where they came. "Well then, I guess it's time for us to head back and regroup."

"Why don't we just finish this path before we pack up and leave." Biscuit moves forward.

"No. This is enough for today."

But the tan-colored dog continues on, not heeding his call.

A tick mark appears on his forehead, and Urushi lets out a growl, glaring daggers at the smaller dog's head.

Biscuit senses it and turns around to face him. He then cringes at the fierce glare directed at him, making him back away.

Suddenly, a rock sliding on rock sound penetrates the air, and all three have wide eyes as they look at the smaller dog's back right paw stepping on a submerge tile on the floor.

Biscuit audibly gulps, and looks back at the two.

Urushu shakes out of his stupor and intensifies his glare at the smaller dog. "You, idiot! Look at what you did!"

"Sh-Shut up! It's not my fault you have a scary face!"

"Why you—"

"C'mon, guys." Naruto moves between the two. "Let's not fight here, and try to figure out a way to get Biscuit—"

The fifteen-year-old's words are cut off as a rumbling noise could be heard at the distance. It is coming from the side they've been through, so they look at that direction, trying to find out what it was from the darkness as the sound gets closer and closer.

Naruto then points his flashlight at where the sound is coming from, but as soon as he did, his eyes widen in horror at seeing a gigantic boulder coming right towards them. "Eh..."

Biscuit's eyes widen. "R-Run."

"To the opposite direction! Hurry!"

At the sound of Urushi yelling, Naruto's legs immediately work and turn back around, running for dear life as he screams at the top of his lungs. "I thought you said this way is safe!"

"Eh?! I never said that!" Biscuit shouts back. "Weren't you listening—"

"Idiots!" Urushi cuts them off. "Just shut up and run!"

"It's getting closer!"

"Argh!"

Naruto looks back at the huge rock only a few feet away from them. Acting on instinct, he immediately forms a familiar hand sign, crossing his index and middle fingers together. A Shadow Clone appears, and Naruto holds out his hand to his clone. Visible chakra could be seen forming on both their hands as the two continue to form in a larger rotating ball of chakra.

Biscuit and Urushi's eyes widen as this is the first time they've seen the fifteen-year-old Uzumaki use the Fourth Hokage's Jutsu.

Nodding his head at his clone, the two switch in each other's place as they turn back around, skidding back to a halt to hold their ground. And as the boulder nears, they lunge at it, launching the large mass of chakra in their hands. _**"Giant Rasengan!"**_

On impact, the spinning ball grinds the boulder, creating small to large cracks and crumbling it from the inside and out to the back. Seconds later, the boulder suddenly breaks apart, shooting sharp and spiky debris all throughout the surrounding area. The clone Naruto shields the real one from any damage and eventually poofs up in smoke when hit.

Panting for breath, Naruto looks at the remains of the danger that posed moments ago. He then wipes out the sweat on his forehead, a grin painting his face. "Phew, that was close. Running for your life really takes a lot." He laughs.

Biscuit laughs too. "I didn't know you could do the Rasengan."

Naruto puts both his arms behind his head. "Yeah. Cool isn't it."

Urushi shakes his, turning back around, though a small smile could be seen on his face. "Next time though, it would be even better if you could do it one-handed."

Naruto just grins at the grumpy ninja hound. "Hehe."

"Where are we anyway?" Biscuit looks around. They are still standing in the wide corridor, but they are doors on both sides, lining up on wide intervals. He looks at the larger dog. "Should we, you know, look inside or go back to the entrance?"

Urushi contemplates the question as he looks around the area. "It's best if we check this out since we might find something worth of notice." He turns back to the two. "Splitting up would be faster since the area's large."

"What about traps?" Naruto points out.

"Hmm, you have a point."

"Don't worry. I'll partner up with Naruto," Biscuit says.

Urushi nods. "Alright. We'll make this quick. I'll backtrack and search this side, while you two go on ahead. Be back here in fifteen minutes whether you're finished or not. It's already getting late."

"We can't really tell time when we're underground." Naruto laughs as he repeats the earlier joke.

The light brown dog just snorts a reply.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

While Biscuit searches at the doors on the left, Naruto examines the ones on the right. The first five doors he opened are empty and nothing of interest with only a bed, a bedside drawer, a table, and a chair. All five looks the same, stale, dark, and empty. He wonders who could live in an environment such as this. Or even better yet, why make a trap-infested, dark, and completely complicated hideout? Orochimaru really is crazy. Who knows what's going on inside that man's sinister mind.

Naruto shivers at the thought. He then shakes his head and proceeds to open the door. With a quick scan, he steps back and is about to leave. But out of the corner of his eye, he notices something on top of the table. Flashing his light, he sees a piece of paper lying on top of it.

"Huh..." Naruto walks towards it and picks it up, noticing numerous letters ranging from A to G in lines. He flips the paper around, and then looks back at the front. Moving his eyes at he top, he notices a beautifully lettered title and reads it. "Sadness and Sorrow...huh..."

Folding the piece of paper, he pockets it inside his backpack, and then turns back around. His brows then scrunched down in thought as he sees dormant sealing tags placed all over the doorway. Looking back inside the room, he also sees seals by the bed. Naruto wonders the kind of person who used this room before. Probably someone not good as the person served Orochimaru in some way. But still...he wonders...

* * *

**AN:**

_**~oOo ****Chapter 6 Preview ****oOo~**_

_Tayuya lies face up on her bed, just staring out at nothing in particular. Although her face doesn't show any signs of agitation or stress, on the inside however, her mind is a train wreck. She blinks back her eyes as tears start to well around it. Cursing herself, she forces herself to look back up at the ceiling, concentrating hard on avoiding the subject that plagues her mind and thinking of any way just to distract herself from it._

_She soon finds herself reaching her right hand over to the side of her face, fingers slowly bending up and down in different patterns. A soft hum, vibrating from her throat, follows the movement of her fingers. And as she closes her eyes, her left hand rises up to join the other, fingers dancing with the melody of her song. But as it comes to an end, so does her contentment, her peace, leaving only a bitter memory._

_Tears start to form again in her eyes, and Tayuya glares at the ceiling above her, brows scrunched down and her lips turned into a scowl. She then closes her eyes again and wills herself not to cry, clenching her fists as she turns her body to the side and bending it in a fetal position._

_No matter how much she tries to forget, her mind won't let it. Of all the things of ruining her plan at finding out any information about her clan is actually the person she was going to ask about it in the first place._

_She clenches a fist, burying half the side of her face. It's just so frustrating! What's worse is that the fact that she surrendered herself to the Leaf, surrendered all information she had on the man she once called Lord and Master, the person who gave her purpose and power. And for what?!_

_Nothing!_

_She surrendered it all for **him**! Just for what?! So that she could feel peace? Closure?_

_Tayuya's grip on the bed sheets gradually loosens its hold. Her breathing slowly evens out as her mind goes blank with only one thought._

_She had lost. Lost her chance at finding out anything more about herself, who she really is, to know who or what exactly is her clan, as well as finding out the reason why her parents—_

_Tayuya's eyes fly open wide, lips slightly parted as the gears in her sharp mind work, a memory long forgotten. She sits herself upright and looks at a large mirror at the corner across her bed._

_She hasn't lost yet. There is still a way to play this so called twisted game the world has on her shitty life._

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

**Aaaaand CUT!**

**Hope you like this little scene with Tayuya-chan. It's the least I can do because she wasn't shown in this chapter.**

**Anyway, next chapter we'll deal with what's going on in Tayuya's mind, as well as the continuation of Naruto and gang's exploration on the hideout in the Sand.**

**Naruto's just curious about the mysterious Anbu girl...**

**Kakashi has plans too...**

**And Sakura...hmm...oh, uh...eh, never mind hehe...**


	7. Eve Before Tomorrow

**AN:**

**Finally! An Update!  
**

* * *

_**~oOo Chapter 6: Eve Before Tomorrow oOo~**_

Tayuya lies face up on her bed, just staring out at nothing in particular. Although her face doesn't show any signs of agitation or stress, on the inside however, her mind is a train wreck. She blinks back her eyes as tears start to well around it. Cursing herself, she forces herself to look back up at the ceiling, concentrating hard on avoiding the subject that plagues her mind and thinking of any way just to distract herself from it.

She soon finds herself reaching her right hand over to the side of her face, fingers slowly bending up and down in different patterns. A soft hum, vibrating from her throat, follows the movement of her fingers. And as she closes her eyes, her left hand rises up to join the other, fingers dancing with the melody of her song. But as it comes to an end, so does her contentment, her peace, leaving only a bitter memory.

Tears start to form again in her eyes, and Tayuya glares at the ceiling above her, brows scrunched down and her lips turned into a scowl. She then closes her eyes again and wills herself not to cry, clenching her fists as she turns her body to the side and bending it in a fetal position.

No matter how much she tries to forget, her mind won't let it. Of all the things of ruining her plan at finding out any information about her clan is actually the person she was going to ask about it in the first place.

She clenches a fist, burying half the side of her face. It's just so frustrating! What's worse is that the fact that she surrendered herself to the Leaf, surrendered all information she had on the man she once called Lord and Master, the person who gave her purpose and power. And for what?!

Nothing!

She surrendered it all for _him_! Just for what?! So that she could feel peace? Closure?

Tayuya's grip on the bed sheets gradually loose its hold. Her breathing slowly evens out as her mind goes blank with only one thought.

She had lost. Lost her chance at finding out anything more about herself, who she really is, to know who or what exactly is her clan, as well as finding out the reason why her parents—

Tayuya's eyes fly open wide, lips slightly parted as the gears in her sharp mind work, a memory long forgotten. She sits herself upright and looks at a large mirror at the corner across her bed.

She hasn't lost yet. There is still a way to play this so called twisted game the world has on her shitty life.

She purses her lips, and for a moment, just continues her stare at the mirror. But soon enough, she gets up and goes to the windows by the side of her bed, grabbing the curtains and pulling it over to cover them up. Making a half-handed ram sign, she activates the numerous seals placed all over her windows and door, any opening that might merit suspicion.

What could she say? She was paranoid. Still is. Not after that event that scarred her life.

Shaking her head, she heaves a frustrated sigh and walks toward the mirror, looking over herself. She looks almost the same as when she was still fourteen. The only difference is that her face looks sharper, and her hair longer, though she did try to cut her bangs short as without her hat, it goes all over the place. She couldn't afford a hat because she's—_duh_—broke. She can't buy the things she wanted to replace the things she lost. The only reason why she had a new set of clothes is because of Uzuki. She suddenly took her measurements out of the blue and bought her new clothes because she wasn't yet allowed to go out at that time. Anyway, besides that, she grew a few inches too. Not just in height, but also on the hips and chest areas, something she never considered worth of notice until recently.

"Hmm..." Lifting up a hand, Tayuya grabs a hold of the zipper on the collar, pulling it down and revealing her skin and a black-laced bra, until it reaches the end where the two pieces of cloth breaks apart.

The black article falls down on the floor, and the redhead examines herself on the mirror. Her right hand reaches out to touch her stomach, slowly rubbing it in circles around her navel. Her eyes slowly droop down to a close, and her hand reaches out to grab hold of her other hand, making a ram sign in the process.

Tayuya concentrates her chakra, signaling them all down to her core. Slowly, she peeks her eyes open and sees a spiral pattern forming from her navel that continues to snake its way around her stomach. Eight characters then appear around it.

Tayuya traces the seal on her stomach her eyes in a daze as if in deep thought. She has yet to reveal this seal to anyone, even the Hokage. After all, the only thing the busted blonde had asked for was information about the Snake Sannin, not anything about her in particular. She also figured that this piece of information is too important let go as this is a personal issue she has to deal with.

She had first encountered this seal just after three days when Lord Orochimaru had branded her the curse mark. She forgot about it—the memory vague—but she could remember it now, bits and pieces of it. Back then, she didn't know what it was exactly. But now...what's important is that this seal is the legacy of her parents.

A few days ago, she had gone to read at the library in search for any sources of information she could find regarding the Uzumaki. But the only thing she got was a vague description of her clan, including which is that they are known for their impressive sealing skills and their equally impressive longevity, which tells her how and why she is still even alive after being buried by numerous sliced-up logs by that blonde bitch from the Sand, nothing in particular that she already didn't know about. However, the thing that piques her interest is the picture of the Uzumaki Clan's trademark seal. A seal that also resembles hers in a way, the spiral pattern on her stomach.

Tayuya gazes at the dark brown eyes staring back at her. She then looks back down at the reflection of her seal. She places a hand over her stomach. "It's here. My clan's secrets are...inside me," she mumbles. Her brows then scrunch down. "It's inside me, but..." But the problem is she doesn't know how to unlock it with only a small amount of knowledge regarding sealing jutsus.

Tayuya paces in front of the mirror, hand currently holding her chin. If she could only find someone who's a master of seals, maybe that person could unlock it for her or maybe she could learn it from them, and then she finally has a chance at finding out the information she so desperately needed. But for now, she would play her part as an Anbu of the Leaf. Yes, she would give it a second chance to bleed out more information from them. Get information somewhere in the Academy to look up for any Leaf shinobi who might at least know about sealing jutsu. Manipulate them with her genjutsu to do whatever the hell she wants. Make plans for repercussions if ever she's caught, an escape route perhaps, maybe even a—

A knock on her door suddenly brings her out of her musings and back to reality. There is only one person the Anbu girl knows who would knock on the door of her room, and that is—

"Uzuki," Tayuya mutters under her breath, quickly making a half-handed ram sign and deactivating the seals on her windows and door. She then makes another set of hand signs, this time clouding the seals in a genjutsu.

The door opens, and Tayuya suddenly remembers that she is almost half naked, and that her seal is still exposed.

Quickly turning her back from the purple-haired Anbu, she breaks the amount of chakra flowing through her core, and eventually, the seal disappears from view, leaving her to heave a sigh of relief.

"Tayuya...can I come inside?" Uzuki asks from the doorway.

The redhead looks at the woman's unmasked face. She then nods and moves to sit on her bed, but not before picking up the fallen piece of article lying on the floor.

Uzuki walks over and sits beside the girl, eyes staring anywhere but her. The Anbu didn't say anything about her state of undress, so Tayuya just shrugs it off and focuses more on the _why_ the woman is here. She puts on her vest and zips it up, looking down, particularly on her toes.

Seconds pass by, and still, silence permeates the room. Tayuya gets restless as she waits for the woman to at least say something. The awkward silence is enough to get on her nerves.

Glaring at her, she demands, "What are you doing here, anyway?"

This time, Uzuki shifts her gaze to the redhead, face neutral so she couldn't read her emotions. But then, they soften and look back up ahead. "I just wanted to know how you're doing. That's all."

Tayuya looks back down. "I'm fine."

"I see..." She nods, her voice trailing off, but after a moment, she asks, "What are you planning on doing now?"

Tayuya visibly stiffens and looks back at her. "Wha...what do you mean?"

"Now that Naruto Uzumaki holds you no information, what will you do once you meet with him?"

Tayuya scoffs, turning back to glare at her toes. "Who said I'm going to meet him? After what happened..." She clenches her fists. "I don't care about the boy. He's just an idiot, a shithead. Hell, I even thought of killing him back then when we were still enemies."

"..."

"If he doesn't know anything, any information regarding my clan, then he's useless to me. What good does it do whether or not I meet him? Nothing. He's just...useless..."

Her words hang in the air, giving in to silence for it to overcome them. But soon enough, the room goes cold, as if they got suddenly transported to the snowy wasteland of her birthplace.

The woman's eyes darken, her tone of voice laden with disappointment. "Is that all he is to you? Just some tool to use and throw away once you're done?"

Tayuya just stares at nothing in particular, not a word or any kind of reply forming her lips.

Uzuki couldn't believe it. "I can't believe you. You're just as heartless as your master."

As those last words leave her mouth, Tayuya whips her head back in anger. "What do you f*cking know about me?" She stands up, voice sharp. "You don't know anything! You don't know what I've _had_ to endure! What my life's been like!"

"You don't know what _his_ has been like." Uzuki counters, but her voice stays soft.

Tayuya scoffs. "Oh? And I guess _you_ do?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," she says softly but firmly. She stands up to meet the girl's glare. "I know that Naruto Uzumaki was hated and scorned by the people of this village. Even as a child, they treated him like he was trash, like he didn't deserved to even live."

Hearing those words, especially the last statement, Tayuya's eyes widen, and she unconsciously reaches out a hand to grab her stomach.

The Anbu notices this, and warning bells ring inside her mind. Slightly narrowing her eyes, she tries to calm herself down, her mind thinking up on what she had observed. The girl is obviously keeping something to herself with the way her body reacted to her words. But the question is what? What is it? The only way to find out is to ask, but...

Closing her eyes, Yugao Uzuki heaves a sigh. Looking back at the younger girl, she lifts up her hand to stroke her hair. Luckily, she didn't recoil or move away from the touch. "Tayuya...tell me what's on your mind?"

There. She said it. After one month of living together, she finally has a good enough reason to ask the question so that she could learn more about the Uzumaki girl.

Tayuya looks up, and then back down. She doesn't say anything, just continues her stare on the floor, her brows scrunched down as if in deep thought.

When she doesn't give a reply, Yugao sighs. But soon enough, the girl's mouth works.

"So...they wanted him dead too," she says in a soft voice.

Yugao just looks at her, not really knowing how to answer that. She only nods. But with the way she had said it as if she referred to herself as well—

The Anbu woman's train of thought is suddenly broken as the redhead gently grabs a hold of the hand on her head and places it back to the woman's side. "I need go," she mumbles. And without waiting for any reply, she walks out of the room, leaving the purple-haired Anbu alone to contemplate things.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Naruto looks up at the night sky as he walks along the sandy streets of the village. There are numerous twinkling stars tonight. From what he'd heard, it's almost rare to see them these days with sandstorms and strong winds occurring during both day and night. But times like these with the wind subtle and calm, the view above looks amazing. Even in the Hidden Leaf, the stars aren't as amazing compared to seeing them here.

The blond genin passes by stores lining up the block. One of them seems to sell some noodle soup dishes. A large grin finds its way on his lips as he moves toward the building, entering inside.

"One large miso ramen please!" Naruto says as he moves to sit down.

"Coming right up!"

When the dish is presented to him, the blond grabs a pair of chopsticks and claps his hands. "Thank you for the food." After that, he immediately digs in, breathing in the sweet aroma of the noodle dish. Even though the ramen here couldn't even compare to Ichiraku Ramen's, he couldn't deny how delicious and mouthwatering it is. Amazing!

After a while—ordering another large bowl—the blond's mind wanders back at the hideout they've explored earlier that day. Him, Biscuit, and Urushi had already reported their findings, including the barrier room. He also mentioned to Kankuro the piece of paper he found inside one of the quarters, as well as the numerous sealing tags placed all over the doorway and bed.

* * *

_Folding the piece of paper, he pockets it inside his backpack, and then turns back around. His brows then scrunched down in thought as he sees dormant sealing tags placed all over the doorway. Looking back inside the room, he also sees seals by the bed. Naruto wonders the kind of person who used this room before. Probably someone not good as the person served Orochimaru in some way. But still...he wonders..._

_Naruto heads over to the bed, kneeling down on one knee to examine the seals. Slowly, he moves his hand to touch one._

_Nothing happened._

_Releasing the breath he was unconsciously holding, the blond proceeds to remove it, before standing up and turning back around. But before he could turn away, he notices from the corner of his eye a red thread lying by the pillow side._

_He carefully picks it up between his fingers and learns that it's actually a single strand of red hair, not red thread. Does that mean that the person who lived here had red hair? Naruto couldn't think of anybody with red hair from the Sound. He could only think of Orochimaru and Kabuto, and they __**don't**__ have red hair. Somehow, his mind manages to imagine both Sound ninja having straight long red hair, complete with a very creepy smile._

_Before he could laugh about it though, a sudden clicking sound could be heard, echoing throughout the corridor. Moments later, light floods from outside the room, and the blond could hear the tan-colored ninja hound laughing. "Mission accomplished! Well, almost."_

_Naruto quickly turns around and exits the room, seeing Biscuit outside wagging his tail. "Hey, what's going on?" he asks, turning off his flashlight as he looks around to see that the torches on the walls are lit. "The lights are on..."_

_"What? You think a hideout as large as this there's someone who'd manually light __**all **__the torches? Jeez, that's overkill."_

_He rubs the back of his head. "Heh, I guess not."_

_The ninja hound shakes his head. "Anyway, did you hear that clicking sound before the lights came on?"_

_The blond nods. "Yeah."_

_"I don't know which team, but it seems they've successfully deactivated all the traps inside the hideout, so it's completely safe to head back now and regroup. Which also means..."_

_Naruto looks at him. "What?"_

_The canine grins, showing all his pearly white teeth. "We can finally go and eat dinner!"_

* * *

Well, he is eating dinner now, finally finishing his third bowl and going for a fourth. But while his grumbling stomach was all he could think about on their way back to the Hidden Sand Village, Naruto had enough insight to hand over the things he picked up from that unusual room.

Kankuro had told him that the sealing tags are actually common as ninja could buy it through shops and stores. He could only guess that its purpose is to lock the door and prevent anyone from entering inside without permission. The other paper on the other hand is some sort of music sheet, though Naruto thought it was some kind of coded message. Kankuro thought otherwise. Still, he'd have to follow protocol and have a look at it if by chance it actually _has_ anything worth of notice.

Naruto almost gave him the red thread too...umm, hair...if not for the Sand jōnin's hearty yet sarcastic comment of giving him something useful next time. The blond doesn't know _why_ he kept the strand of hair though, even now…probably because it reminds him of a certain redheaded girl.

Speaking of which, his talk with his sensei was interrupted earlier that morning. Now that he isn't distracted anymore about not being able to enter the Chūnin Exams, their mission to the hideout tomorrow for that barrier room, as well as his grumbling stomach, he could finally ask Kakashi-sensei about the person filling up his mind right now.

Grabbing the bowl in front of him, the blond slurps its broth and remaining contents, heaving a contented sigh as he finishes his fifth meal of the night.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Inside one of the rooms at the inn they're staying at, one silver-haired jōnin lies face-up on his bed. He isn't wearing the standard green vest, only in his dark blue suit, holding a certain green-colored book just inches away from his masked face. Giggles could be heard as he turns over a new page. A few moments later, his giggles return, but with even more glee...and something else entirely. If one were to look beyond the book, they would definitely see the perverted expression on his face.

Suddenly, the door to his room opens, and Kakashi slowly turns away from the book, a somewhat irritated look on the parts of his visible face. But when he sees that it's just his young genin student, his expression softens. He sits up on the edge of the bed.

"Kakashi-sensei. I wanted to talk to y—" The blond starts, but suddenly gets interrupted.

"Ah, Naruto. Right on time," Kakashi says, crossing his arms. "Would you like to learn a new technique?"

Caught off guard, Naruto could only tilt his head to the side. "H-Huh?" He stutters. "Oh, uh...huh?"

The jōnin chuckles a bit, lightly shaking his head. "I said. Would you like to learn a new technique?"

"A new...technique?" After what seems to be a very long pause, Naruto snaps out of his stupor and brightens up like a child given a toy on his birthday. "Really!" He quickly closes the door and immediately stands in front of the jōnin, exited as ever. "Cool! What kind of jutsu is it? I bet it's cool and awesome 'cause you're jutsus are always awesome, y'now!"

The copy-nin rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, leaving the bait for him to catch. "Anyway, as I said, I'll teach you a new technique."

The boy's eyes twinkle like stars.

Kakashi sweatdrops. He then clears his throat, returning in all seriousness. "However, I wouldn't say that this jutsu is mine as even though I copied it with my Sharingan eye, I can't use it."

"Huh? Why not?" he asks, "I mean, if you copied it, shouldn't you be able to use it or something?"

"It's not much as I can't...but more of a matter that I won't. _She_ might haunt me in my dreams if I use _her _jutsu."

Naruto looks at him, quite confused. "She?"

Kakashi just shrugs. "Never mind that. The jutsu I'm about to teach you is a simple sealing jutsu, but difficult to use if you haven't yet grasped the idea of it. With that said, we'll start first with the..." The copy-nin stops what he is saying at the disappointed look his student is giving him. "Eh...what's wrong, Naruto? Don't you want to learn a new technique?"

Looking away to the side, the blond puts both hands in his pockets, pouting. "It's not that I don't want to learn a new jutsu, it's just that..." He looks back at his sensei, somewhat whining. "Kakashi-sensei, why sealing jutsu? I was kinda looking forward to something more cool and awesome like the Chidori or Water Dragon Jutsu, y'now."

Kakshi closes his eye and crosses his arms as if in deep thought. Okay, now for the incentive. He opens an eye and looks back at the blond genin. "Tell you what. I don't usually make bets, _but_ if you manage to master this jutsu, in let's say...four days, once we go back to the Leaf with a very, very, _very_ successful mission, I'll help you out to make your own cool and awesome jutsu." He eye smiles. "Whaddaya say?"

Naruto grins at that and pumps his fist in the air. "Heck yeah! If that sealing jutsu is as simple as you say, then I'll finish it in less than two days!"

The jōnin chuckles. "Heh, it wouldn't be surprising if you did. After all, you _are_ the most unpredictable ninja I've ever met."

The blond's grin widens. "Hehe. Well then, what are we waiting for?!"

He chuckles at the boy's energy. "I guess timer starts now."

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Her hands seem to glide all over the desk like a swooping eagle taking out its prey. Grab a page with her left, stamp it with her right. Repeat. Grab a page with her left, stamp it with her right. Repeat. Though sometimes, they move to take a sip of the cup of tea her apprentice gave earlier, before repeating the process again. This scene would continue on in complete silence if not for the slight disturbance she suddenly feels in the air.

Looking up from her desk filled papers, she heaves a sigh, taking another sip of her tea. "I thought you already left the village."

"Do you really want me to stay away that badly, eh Tsunade?" The tone of voice appears hurt, though it seems otherwise.

The blonde Hokage scoffs. "You know what I mean, Jiraiya."

"Haha. My, aren't we in a foul mood tonight." The Toad Sage from Mount Myōboku suddenly enters the room, going by the window that is now open and leans down the wall beside it, crossing his arms.

Sighing again, she rubs her temples, not really in the mood to have a debate. "I didn't think you'd be back so soon. Usually it takes you years just to come back from...whatever research it is you're into."

The white-haired Sannin gives a leery grin. "Hehe. You have no idea how hard it is just to get into the right details."

The Hokage sighs again for the third time, "You'd think our late sensei would be proud. You with your perverted books, peeping on innocent girls with the pretense of doing research. As for me, I drink a lot and gamble away all my money, just to lose over and over again. And Orochimaru...he's obsessed with these experiments of his, switching bodies just to make himself live on to obtain all jutsu..."

As her words trail off, silence permeates the room. Not wanting for it to continue, Jiraiya breaks it with an indignant huff, moving to stand in front of the blonde. "Hmph, I remember perfectly how Sarutobi-sensei liked my books." His smiles widely, nodding his head in agreement with himself. "You know, I always saved him a copy before it is even released."

Tsunade groans, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I can't believe you corrupted him into reading your perverted books."

"For your information, he let me peep on girls and even wanted to go with me this one time too."

She lightly glares at him. "You're such a pervert."

"I'm not just any pervert. I'm a super pervert!" He proudly states, giving two thumbs up.

The blonde sweatdrops. "Ugh, I just hope you haven't corrupted Naruto with your dirty mind."

Jiraiya shakes his head. "Hehe, not yet anyways," he mumbles to himself, a perverted grin on his face.

Tsunade's ears perks up. "Huh? What was that?"

He holds up his hands in peace. "Now, now. Don't get all heated up because me."

A tick mark appears on the blonde's forehead.

Sweatdropping at the killer intent directed towards him, the Toad Sannin clears his throat. "A-Anyway, there's reason why I came back in less than a year." The Slug Sannin visibly frowns at the joke, but it didn't faze him as he continues. "It's about the Akatsuki."

At hearing the mysterious group of S-Class ninja, which includes the former Leaf shinobi, Itachi Uchiha, Tsunade narrows her eyes, lacing her fingers together. "What about them? You said that they'll target Naruto in about three years. We've got eight more months to prepare until they come after him again."

He puts a hand by his chin. "I don't think they'll target him first."

Her eyes slightly widen. "You mean..."

Jiraiya nods. "They're on the move, but they're also cautious."

"Hmm, how so?"

A small smile finds its way on his lips. "You tell me. With Leaf ninja posted in different parts of the Land of Fire, not to mention that the Sand Village is doing the same thing in their own land, it's not much of a surprise that they won't do anything drastic to get anyone's attention."

She leans back on her chair. "So, it's because of what I started that somehow temporarily halted their plans. Then again, capturing all the tailed beasts _is_ their goal. I'm sure they'll do just about anything to get their hands on any of them."

He nods. "Right. And I'm betting they'll start with the lowest numbered jinchūriki."

She narrows her eyes. "Gaara?"

He shrugs. "Probably. Probably not. It's only a matter of time before they make a move anyway."

Tsunade nods her head in agreement. "Alright, I'll send word to the Kazekage tomorrow morning for precaution." She then moves again to continue her paperwork. "Is there anything else?" she asks when she noticed that he's still standing there.

Jiraiya rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm...how about that meeting with the elders tomorrow?"

The blonde Hokage looks up to meet his. "How'd you know about that?"

The Toad Sannin makes 'tsk' noises with his tongue and mouth, shaking his head with both hands on his hips. "You underestimate my amazing investigative skills. Tsunade, you should know me better by now."

"Hmph, I guess I can't argue with that. Fine." She stands up and walks over to the window behind her, leaning on it as she looks outside the still village.

A comfortable silence falls between them. Jiraiya patiently waits for his long time friend to continue. Soon enough, a sigh escapes the woman's lips.

"A council meeting will be held at the war room tomorrow. I don't know why they want it there, probably for whatever thing they want to talk about to stay inside." She huffs a bit of air. "Just thinking about seeing those two old bags again gives me a headache. What's even worse is that I can't shake this feeling like something bad is going to happen with that old warhawk joining in."

"Hmm..." Jiraiya moves to stand beside her at the window, looking over at the village outside as well. "I hope you have something planned. Knowing that man, he always has something up under his sleeve." He then shifts his gaze over to her. "Just be careful, okay."

As much as how sweet that had sounded, a smirk finds its way on the blonde woman's lips. "Who do you think your talking to anyway?" She looks at him. "You worried about me?" She then shakes her head. "Jiraiya, you should know me better by now." She repeats his earlier phrase with amusement. "I can handle these stupid council meetings as easy as I can put you to sleep for a month with just one strike of my finger."

Hearing his friend's confidence, the Toad Sage lets out a hearty laugh. "Ahahaha!" After that, he looks back at her. "Alright. I wish you good luck then. You're gonna need it."

Tsunade lets out a chuckle. Though moments later, her lips curve into a deep frown, her brows going down as her mind registers the subtle jab to her 'Legendary Sucker' status of being _very_..._extremely_..._unlucky_.

A huge tick mark appears on her forehead, and Jiraiya unfortunately knows nothing more...

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

A lone figure walks on ahead, following whatever road leads her. She hasn't exactly have anything on mind. Her feet just seem to move about on its own, no place in particular, maybe someplace quiet where she could think things through. Her mind is a jumbled mess, and she needs to sort things out before she could move on and make a decision. Which path she should follow? Theirs...or her own.

Earlier, Tayuya had made the decision to betray the Leaf. But now, she's doubting that decision simply because of the knowledge Uzuki put in her brain that Naruto Uzumaki and her are the same. People had wanted them dead. She's not sure whether it's because he's an Uzumaki for their reason of hate, but still...it doesn't add up if the people coming from the same village scorned him. It's not like the people who wanted him dead were complete strangers like hers was.

Scowling, she clutches both sides of her head, yelling at the top of her lungs. "Aaaaargh! Why am I even sympathizing with that blond moron?!"

Is it because she feels kinship with him? Both of them are alone with no families to turn to. Both are orphans. He's the same clan as her, so does that mean they're family? No. They're complete strangers.

Tayuya finds herself sitting down on a bench by a road in a hill, somewhat drained from her sudden outburst. From this viewpoint, she could see the village. Some of the buildings still have light in them, but the majority of them are out, probably because it's already late. Common sense dictates for her to go back home, but...

She lowers her eyes to the ground.

...home, huh...

She sighs, placing a hand over her face. The last place she had ever called home was with Lord Orochimaru. She was one of his personal bodyguards together with her...late teammates. The curse mark on the back of her neck is living proof of it, even though its been sealed by orders of the Hokage.

That was her life back then, serving only him until a tool such as herself gets broken like Kimimaro did. But that was just fine with her. She'd sworn an oath to serve him in exchange for power. Power so that she could fulfill her revenge. But that doesn't matter now. Only information about the Uzumaki Clan would satisfy.

So...what is her choice? Which path will she follow? Pretend that everything's alright and continue to obey the Hokage's demands until such time when it's perfect for her to make her move. Or swallow her freedom and follow what Tsunade had set a path for her, to become a dog of the Leaf Village. Both choices has her losing. Either have a chance at gaining information but lose her potential home, or stay here at the village but lose knowing about her clan.

She closes her eyes, leaning back on the bench. Does...does Naruto Uzumaki feel the same way? Could he help her? She lifts an arm over her stomach. All her life she never knew. Is there another way without her losing? She's so sick of it.

...

W-Would...would she be willing to let her secrets go? If she told Tsunade about the seal in her stomach—

Her train of though is cut off as someone suddenly taps her on her right shoulder.

The redhead's eyes fly open wide, and she immediately jumps out off her seat, ready to strike at any given moment. From her right just a few feet away from her is a black-haired boy who seems to be the same age as her, or maybe younger. He wears a short black-and-grey jacket with red straps, a high-collared midriff shirt, black pants, shinobi sandals, and gloves with his index and thumb fingers exposed. The second thing she noticed is his very pale-looking skin. But the most important and shocking part is that he's a mirror image of Sasuke Uchiha!

The boy just smiles at her, both eyes closed as he slightly tilts his head to the side. "Hmm...did I scare you?"

Bouncing back from her initial shock and a lot of other negative emotions, Tayuya narrows her eyes, glaring at him.

But her glare doesn't seem to faze him one bit. He just keeps smiling. "You know, I have heard of you. You're name's Ikari, correct?" Tayuya's finger slightly twitches. He then chuckles lightly. "Have you already gotten bored with your mask?"

The redhead raises an eyebrow, suddenly confused at the change of topic. She still remains cautious though, expanding her sensory range even now to see if there is any danger nearby. "You're wearing a Leaf headband, but who are you?"

For the first time, the boy opens his eyes, revealing pure dark orbs staring back at her. He continues his smile, but it doesn't reach his eyes. Everything about him just seems...fake.

"You've always worn your mask even when it's quite unnecessary. I think this is the first time I've ever seen you without it."

"Tch". Tayuya scoffs. "So? You're point? You haven't answered my question." Though on the inside, she curses herself for forgetting her Anbu mask back at the apartment.

Tayuya is broken out of her thoughts as the boy suddenly takes one step forward, making her unconsciously take a step back. "Hmm...it seems I _do_ scare you."

She glares at him. "Shut up, you pale ass piece of shit!"

But the boy just smiles at the insult, eyes closed. "Ahaha...really? I like people like you, unfriendly crones."

A tick mark appears on her forehead, and Tayuya has had enough of it. But instead of blowing up, her entire aura darkens. She moves a hand to her left wristband, ready to start a fight when necessary.

Seeing this, the boy's smile disappears, the facade he's playing gone replaced by a serious one. "Don't worry. I'm not here to fight you. In fact, I'm actually here to inform you about the meeting tomorrow."

She narrows her eyes. "What Meeting?"

A smile finds its way back to his lips, which makes the redhead scowl. He then chuckles. "You'll see."

And with that, he jumps up into the air and makes a half-handed ram sign, making him disappear in a swirl of black ink.

Tayuya only watches. She could still sense him even when gone, but it gradually diminishes until she couldn't sense him anymore.

Looking down, she moves back to sit on the bench, eyes glazed. Minutes pass by, and still she doesn't move. It isn't until a few minutes later that Uzuki suddenly jumps down to her level. She looks around the area, before turning back to greet her charge.

"You're late." Is all the girl says.

"Well, you never make it easy for me to find you. You always hide your chakra whenever you feel like running away," her purple-haired guardian answers.

Tayuya looks up after a long time."...I know."

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

At a dark part of the village, the black-haired boy lands on a rooftop. Just then, he feels a presence behind him, and he immediately grabs the tip-less tantō on his back, turning a one-eighty to block an incoming attack.

"Good timing," the attacker says, "Yeah...never let yourself be off-guard."

He recognizes the intruder, and slowly, the two stand down. "...what is it, Hyō?"

"Use this..." The man hands over a vial with purple liquid. "A gift from Lord Danzō."

He takes it, inspecting the liquid. He then looks back at the man.

"Okay, you have been assigned a top-secret mission. Make sure to carry out the intentions of Danzō, the man who will ensure our village's future." The man turns back around and starts to walk away. But then, he stops to look back. "...also, failure is not an option. Lord Danzō will make sure every traitor will be dealt with, even those who used to serve the snake."

The boy agrees, looking back at the hill he came from. "I know."

* * *

**AN:**

**UH OH! It looks like Tsunade's bad feeling about tomorrow is right! But the question is, what are Danzo's plans? From the last part, it looks like they already know who Ikari truly is!**

**Tayuya: *glares at the last part of the chapter* I have a bad feeling about this. And I'm seriously pissed off at that pale ass shit.**

**Naruto: *looks at the readers* I'm going to learn a new jutsu! How great it that everybody!**

**Kakashi: *eye smiles at everyone, hand over his mouth as he points a thumb at the blond* He doesn't know I'm distracting him from being distracted from his mission, because he's clearly distracted by Tayuya-chan. He even found a single strand of red hair, and I think it belongs to Tayuya-chan. If that's not destiny, then what is? Don't you think so too?**

**Naruto: *suddeny sneezes***

**Tayuya: *suddenly sneezes too***

**...**

**Anyway, sorry for the long wait. I hope this chapter gets you excited for what's to come. The story is heading towards the peak of Part 1. It won't be long until the two meet :)**

**Thank you for the favs and follows. Really appreciate the reviews too. Until next time I can update.**

**Oh, and out of topic, I just read Naruto Gaiden 1, and I really feel so bad for little Sarada Uchiha. Who the heck is her true mother?! Karin or Sakura? Sasuke, why the heck did you leave your own daughter?**


	8. The Coming Storm I

_**~oOo Chapter 7: The Coming Storm I oOo~ **_

Morning comes, and the sun peaks over the horizon, slowly creeping up and engulfing the entirety of the sleeping village with its warm embrace. Birds can be heard as they start singing their sweet melody. The sudden cuckoo of roosters signify the start of the day. The sleepy villagers gradually wake up from their slumber, ready to start working. But one such person has already finished her work with only a few more unfinished business to spare.

A knock on her office door signals that one of persons she had sent for is here.

"Enter."

The door opens, and a woman in her mid-twenties steps inside. Yurika, a member of the Leaf Cryptanalysis Team, has short brown hair and eyes of the same color, wearing a shade of pink lipstick along with a dark short dress, a white belt, and a pair of low-heeled sandals.

She closes the door behind her and stands at the front of the desk. "Lady Hokage. You have a message?"

"Yes." Taking one of the papers on her desk, Tsunade hands it over to the message decoder. "Have one of your team code it for the Hidden Sand. Notify me once it's sent off at the aviary."

"Understood." She turns back around and proceeds to exit the room. But before she could, the Hokage calls her out again.

"Yurika."

"Yes?" She turns back around to look at the Hokage, who gets up from her seat and stands by the window.

"There _is_ one more thing that I need you to do." She glances back at the brunette. "I need you to send those two."

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Out in the bright blue sky, a reddish brown bird is seen overhead gliding swiftly over the village. Attached to its back is a small grayish-blue backpack. It heads southwest. Its destination, the Hidden Sand Village, which is located through the surrounding forest and into the vast desert beyond. And as it passes by a large tree, it catches sight of the glare solely directed at it.

Coming from one of the buildings below by a window, an old man watches the messenger bird with a dark and beady eye brimming with cold steel and an air of death.

The bird lets out a squawk and speedily flies away from the area. No sooner as it disappears from sight does a black blur suddenly lands by the old man's side, kneeling before him with it's masked face directed to the ground.

Without turning his head, the old man asks, "What's the status."

"In the dark."

"All movements watched."

"As we speak. We'll move forward with the plan at your command."

A small sinister smile plays on his lips. "All will be over soon. You are dismissed."

With that, the ninja blends into the shadows. Danzō doesn't leave his position, only narrowing his eye as another messenger bird flies past, this one of the color of white and without a pack. His frown only deepens, and he continues his stare at it's retreating form until it disappears completely out of sight.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

In the middle of a courtyard stands a fifteen-year-old blond genin. Surrounding him are four tall concrete walls encompassing the wide open space and only stopping at one side where the only exit lies. With eyes closed shut and fingers steadily locked in a ram hand sign, a surge of chakra flares around him. He stays still in that position, silence overtaking the place. But after while, he couldn't help but twist his stoic features into a tiny frown.

"C'mon, already." He grits his teeth, muttering complaints under his breath.

Heaving a sigh and shaking his head, he concentrates harder as he tries to focus his mind at the task at hand. But that's easier said than done since nothing's really happening. After two hours of doing just this, the result is still the same.

Nothing.

No progress whatsoever.

"Aggghhhhh!" With a frustrated groan, Naruto opens his eyes and glares at the lonesome four-sided pole that sticks like a target at the back of the courtyard that's at least fifteen meters away. A sealing formula with a trademark swirl can seen on its front, as if taunting him and parading around how much of a loser he is.

"Hmph!" He stands up straight, crossing his arms and pouting. "You're not even a real sealing jutsu." He then moves his arms down at his side, clenching both fists. "But I'm not gonna give up!"

The boy moves back into position, going again and continuing his training.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

After taking up the stairs, Kankurō turns left at a corner to a long winding hallway. Decorating it is a wide-stretched window that encompasses at least four-fifths of the entire floor. Outside, one could see how bright and blue the sunny day is and how alive the people are about even with the plainness of its structure in contrast.

A set of steps resounds the empty hall, and it's not one of his own. It comes from the direction he's heading to, where a tall man with black hair, goatee, and dark eyes appears around the curved wall. Yūra, a respectable jōnin, as well as one of members of the Sand's advisory council, is noted for organizing the hunt for the Sand hideouts, as well as doubling the guards and outposts to watch out for either Orochimaru, _or_ the movements of the Akatsuki.

Yūra notices his presence. "Oh? Good morning, Lord Kankurō." He lightly bows.

The puppeteer waves it off. "Just Kankurō would do."

The jōnin awkwardly nods his head. "Right. Of course..."

He bows again and excuses himself, turning to leave. Kankurō returns his gesture with a nod and continuous his way. But just as Yūra leaves his line of sight, he hears a sudden gasp coming from the council member. He turns back around to see him hunched down, holding his head as if in pain.

"What's wrong?" Kankurō takes a step forward, but the dark-haired jōnin raises out a hand for him to stop.

"No..." He lightly shakes his head. "It is nothing... It's just the lack of sleep..."

Kankurō could only stare as the man retreats from the hallway, leaving him behind bewildered, and mostly confused.

Shaking his head, the puppeteer turns back around and makes his way to the room just a few doors away. He arrives and knocks on the door, opening it and immediately spotting his younger brother looking through the window overviewing the village. "Gaara."

The auburn-haired Kage shifts his gaze away from the scenery to look at his elder sibling standing by the door frame. He gives him a nod as permission to enter.

Once inside, Kankurō closes the door. "Hey... We'll be heading out to the hideout after the preparations are all complete." He takes a seat on one of the chairs, placing one foot on his knee. "Some of the things the team recovered yesterday are old equipment that the Sound ninja used back when they conspired against the Leaf. It's likely that they used that hideout as preparation for the joint invasion."

"The part where _we_ helped them..." Gaara says, looking back outside the window.

Kankurō looks down, taking off his hood and scratching his messy brown locks. "Yeah, well... That still doesn't give us a lot. But we might find clues on Orochimaru beyond that sealed gate."

"The gate with an active barrier ninjutsu."

"Yeah..."

"Have you checked the note?" The young Kage glances back at him. "The one that Naruto Uzumaki gave you..."

He shrugs. "Like I told the kid, it's just an ordinary sheet of music. There's nothing special about it except that it's hand written. Probably made by the previous owner or something. Which _still_ doesn't give us anything."

"I see." Gaara looks back at the window.

Kankurō sighs softly, standing up. "Well... I'm off." He moves toward the exit, but stops as his brother suddenly gives him a warning.

"There's a storm coming..." he says a matter-of-factly.

Kankurō turns back around, looking at him with a raised brow. "Another one?"

Gaara narrows his eyes, looking beyond the village to the hot desert plains. "Kankurō... Hold the recon mission for now. Wait for the storms to pass before heading out." He closes his eyes, whispering the last part. "I have a bad feeling about this."

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

The glare of the sun beats down on the desert wasteland, and heat can be seen radiating from the hot surface, rising in slow waves. A person could very well die of heat stroke, severe sunburn, starvation, dehydration, or even dangerous animals. However, two figures approach, the wind beating down over their bodies as they trudge the path with ease, as if gliding through the hot surface. One is of average height, while the other stands lower than four feet with it's back hunched over its head. But other than that, they wear the same black cloaks with red clouds, as well as cone-shaped straw hats with small ornamental torques and tassels hanging down and hiding their faces.

"The one who's in place here will be the first it seems. The one we sent to Orochimaru will have to wait." The first figure—the one with bits of blond hair seen through the tassels—speaks up. From the voice, a person could tell it's masculine. "This one's turned traitor and has been talking about our movements. Hmm."

"Can't be helped I suppose," a deep gruff voice says from beside him, "But even I don't know what will happen once the jutsu is cast. Are you sure what you've got in that pouch will be enough?" He indicates the small bag his partner is holding. "Our enemy possesses the jinchūriki host."

"Every one of my jutsu is a work of art." The wind brushes away one of the cloak's flaps, revealing a bag attached to his hip. "Just to be sure, I brought along my master piece. Hmm." He reaches out and unzips it, hovering his palm above it where a mouth opens up and a tongue darts forth. "We can't take our chance when our opponent is the One-Tail, hmhmhmhmm." He chuckles darkly. "After all, fine art...is an explosion."

The hunched figure scoffs at the other man's idea. "What? You call those explosions fine art? Fine art is something wonderful that's left long into the future… Eternal beauty."

The blond's lips curl into a scowl—though it couldn't be seen by his partner. "Eternal beauty? Hmph. Fine art is the beauty of that single fleeting moment of explosion."

"How utterly ridiculous."

A tick mark appears on his forehead. "Sasori, my man, if I didn't respect you enough with my highest regard as a fellow artist, I would have made you a part of my exhibit a long, LONG time ago."

The hunched figure known as Sasori slows down his pace, coming up just behind his companion. "Is that a threat...Deidara?"

Stopping in his tracks, Deidara looks behind him with an annoyed glare, his slanted blue eye trying to pierce holes through his partner's body.

The two continue their staring contest with no clue of when will it stopping. But soon enough, it breaks apart and both men start to trudge the same path towards their destination. It's Deidara who cuts the silence first.

"You're just pissed with all the absurd amount of Sand ninja running about the Land of Wind. Hmm."

"Since I don't like to wait or make people wait, this delay is quite aggravating. We need to end this quickly."

The blond agrees with him this time. "After the One-Tail is the other spy. Next to that is this mysterious informant that started all these investigations in the Land of Wind and Fire."

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

"Achoo!" Tayuya directs her sneeze to her right, narrowingly avoiding the bowl of milk and cereal in front of her. Her hair unkempt and all tangled up from sleep. And after composing herself, she mumbles absentmindedly, "Thanks for the food," And then proceeds to eat.

With one hand propped up to her chin, she spoons the bowl as lacklusterly as a person can get from waking up in the morning. She only stares at it lazily, her mind not really processing the whole ordeal of eating. It takes about a minute and a half for the spoonful to reach their goal. The next one is about the same, though the time period gradually increases with each bite.

She leans back on her seat and absently plays with the food as her mind wanders back on yesterday's events. How a single day could turn her world upside down...

Again...

A sigh escapes her lips, and she tries to start eating again, only for her to stare at it with distaste. Placing the utensil back down in the bowl, she pushes it aside and tucks her head in her arms.

She's just so sick of feeling so lost again. Sick of trying to adjust to the situation she finds herself suddenly in. Sick of trying to stand up when everything seems to just want her to stay down. Wouldn't it be better if she had _died_ on that forest back then? Or better yet, if she had just died when shit started to happen on her f*cked up life. For one, she wouldn't have had her revenge—that's for sure—without having met Orochimaru. The curse mark won't be there to bind her to him forever until the day she dies, like her comrades did on that fateful mission.

The grip she has on her left arm unconsciously tightens.

Now that she thinks about, she hasn't properly grieved for her fallen comrades. Not that they were all chums and buddy-buddies or anything, but those four were...constant. Even when she tried to distance herself, she couldn't help but find a special place for them in her bitter cold heart. They were her friends, yes. She understands that now. Didn't she once tell pineapplehead that?

_"I'll play a little melody of death for you. You shouldn't insult me or MY friends either, you worm."_

All the people she has ever cared about has died, while she lives on. She doesn't know if having Uzumaki blood is even a gift or a curse. If she had died after being buried by large sliced up trees, she wouldn't have learned that she's a member of the Uzumaki Clan. Her life wouldn't be wasted rotting in a hospital bed for two years. _And_ she wouldn't have known that Tsunade and Shizune are actually _allied_ with the Hidden Leaf. Better yet not having known that the blonde is actually one of the Legendary Sannin and would succeed in being their Hokage after she had indirectly killed the last.

The only thing keeping her sane enough to live is the thought that Naruto Uzumaki would have the answers to her many unanswered questions. He is _supposed_ to be her constant, keeping her together. But now that's gone too. Her life is just so messed up.

She sighs...

Well... At least there's one person that's been constant to this new life of hers.

Shifting her face to the side, Tayuya listens to the muffled sound of sprinkling water behind the bathroom door. Uzuki is taking a shower, and it looks like there won't be training today since they always do that before showering. It's kind of a good thing too because she doesn't have the energy to train today. Or maybe even for the next two weeks or so with what's happened—

A sudden tap is heard, breaking the redhead out of her self-induced depression. She looks up from the table to see what it is.

Outside, a white hawk with a blue Leaf headband tied on its neck stands by the window, looking at her with its beady eyes that somehow twinkled in the light. It squawks so suddenly and taps the window again with its beak, and Tayuya doesn't think twice to stand up and open it. Once it flies inside, it lands on the table and circles the bowl of cereal. It doesn't take quite long before it dips its beak inside to feed itself.

Tayuya's left eye twitches. "Oy! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

It raises its head to regard her for but a moment.

"That's mine, you stupid albino chicken."

The hawk glares at and turns its back on her, sticking out its tail feathers and ignoring her completely.

A vein pops somewhere around her head, and she grudgingly scrapes her feet toward the bathroom door, knocking—though more like pounding—on it. "Uzuki! UZUKI!"

The door cracks open, and an_ 'I don't have time for this'_ or _'Can't you see I'm busy'_ face peers through its opening.

Tayuya rolls her eyes and steps aside, pointing at the offending intruder inside their home.

The Anbu shifts her gaze from her charge to the white hawk comically digging in on a bowl of cereal and milk. She sweatdrops at that, but soon backs away from the door for a moment, before opening it completely and stepping outside in only a light green towel that seems a bit too short for her. Her wet waist-length hair clings onto her exposed skin, and a patch of water follows her trail on the floorboards when she passes by her companion.

Tayuya moves to stand beside her, eyeing the bird with a mixture of curiosity and annoyance. "Well? When a messenger bird flies by, it usually means that the jōnin are being called in. It's..." She gestures the bird. "_Here_. So does that mean we're being called in too?"

"From the looks of it..."

She wrinkles her nose. "Don't you think it's a bit too early? Tsunade usually lets us train in the morning, before reporting back in the afternoon."

Uzuki shrugs. "Hokage's orders."

Tayuya crosses her arms. "Hmph. That's what you always say."

The Anbu shifts her gaze back at the redhead, eyes glinting with amusement. "My, aren't we a sourpuss today."

She scoffs at that. "Whatever." And then marches off across the room to her bedroom door, leaving the Anbu and the hawk to remain inside.

Yūgao crosses her arms and looks back at the messenger bird, who's slowly eating her charge's breakfast. She better kick it out of her home before Tayuya's ticking time-bomb temper explodes. It also helps that she's not a fan of animals living inside her apartment, especially when it's eating and _on_ the table.

Not on her watch.

But before the Anbu could execute her plan, she senses a flicker of chakra coming from outside the open window on a roof just across the street. Casually moving towards it, she eyes the buildings around while on the pretense of getting herself a drink from the faucet. Expanding her sensory range, she tries to find that chakra again. But unfortunately, it's gone without a trace.

Maybe it's nothing... Maybe it's just other shinobi passing by... But whatever it is, she better watch out if it happens again.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

Naruto lies face up on the ground, arms spread wide like an eagle soaring high in the sky. His eyes are closed, covering his sight from the heated glare of the sun. But a crunch to the side of his head brings them open. Staring right back at his are a pair of big green eyes framed by a certain chin-length pink hair.

"Oh hey, Sakura."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, the medic-nin sighs in exasperation. "What are you doing, Naruto?"

The blond genin sits up and turns his body around to face his teammate, answering, "Training." As if it were the most obvious thing.

Sakura shifts her weight to her other leg, placing a hand on her hip. "Right, well... I came here to tell you that the mission to the Sand hideout will be temporarily put on hold."

"Really?" Now _that_ catches his attention.

"Yeah. Apparently, there's another sandstorm coming." She chuckles a bit. "Gotta make sure that we don't get caught in one, right?"

Naruto nods his head. "Yeah. I heard there's been a lot lately."

She hums in agreement, looking up at the sky and seeing it clear as day. She shifts her eyes back down around the large courtyard. "So, Naruto... Why are you training? I mean... I guess it's okay to train." She looks back at him. "But why all of a sudden?"

He shrugs. "Kakashi-sensei and I had a bet last night. If I can master the jutsu he taught me in two days, he'll teach me another technique once we get back to the Hidden Leaf Village!" The boy grins like an excited fox, which makes the pink-haired kunoichi smile back.

"Seems like a tough challenge since you've got only two days."

His grin broadens, and he puts both arms behind his head. "Heh. You're looking at the guy who mastered the Shadow Clone Jutsu in less than a day! How hard can this be?"

"Well, when you put it that way..." She puts a hand to her chin. "But what kind of a jutsu is it? Ninjutsu? Taijutsu? Don't tell me it's _genjutsu_?!" _And_ she laughs at that.

Naruto pouts and crosses his arms, grumbling under his breath. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Sakura. You're _really_ helping"

Trying to suppress her laughter, she holds up both her hands in the air. "Sorry, sorry. It's just that...you don't come off as a genjutsu type sort of shinobi, seeing as you don't display any natural affinity for it anyway."

He rubs the back of his head. "Yeah, well... Pervy Sage tried to teach me a thing or two about it, but..." He shrugs his shoulders. "Y'know..." Moving to stand up, he turns to face the lone post standing at the back of the courtyard, pointing at it.

Sakura follows his gaze to see a sealing formula written on it. It has six characters decorating the seal at equal distance. Three of it appears longer at different intervals. Lastly, a spiral pattern can be seen at its center, holding them together in place.

"A sealing jutsu?" she inquires.

"Yeah..." But then grumbles. "Though I think it's more sensory than sealing jutsu."

"What do you mean by that?" She looks at him and then back at the seal. "Looks like a sealing jutsu to me."

"Pervy Sage taught me the basics of sealing techniques." He explains. "This one counts as one, but at the same time, it's not. The seal sorta acts like beacon, and I use this...mind's eye stuff, and umm...I should see things, and..." He scratches the top of his head. "Look, it's just something about the original user saying that, _'It's a sealing jutsu, and that's that, y'know,' _or something like that. Kakashi-sensei told me that sealing techniques were the specialty of her clan, so maybe that's why..."

Sakura slightly looks a bit lost, but nods her head the same. "Okay... So how's it going?"

A sigh escapes his lips, which immediately tells the pink-haired chūnin that it isn't good.

"Not good, huh?"

Naruto looks back at the post, particularly at the seal. "The first three steps are easy. But the last one's really tricky. I've been up training all morning."

"And?"

He pouts and shrugs, putting both hands in his pockets. "Aaaaannnd nothing happened."

"What do you think is supposed to happen?"

"That I should see the things around me with my head."

Sakura touches her chin with her thumb and index finger. "Well, did you ask Kakashi-sensei? Any tips?"

Naruto shakes his head.

The medic-nin runs a hand through her hair, mulling about it. "I don't know much about sensory techniques... But how about using that jutsu somewhere close to you first. I can see that it's far away." She points at the seal. "And also..." She raises up an index finger. "Try to go someplace quiet since you're not used to sensory jutsus. This seems like a good spot, but this is a training ground, and there'll be other ninja using it soon." She moves her hand back to her hip. "With medical ninjutsu, you need to have skill and precision. But besides that, you also need a cool head to concentrate on what you're doing and not get sidetracked when doing it."

While Sakura rants about tips, suggestions, and other advice, Naruto nods his head and listens closely, only smiling at her when she's finished. "Thanks, Sakura."

She waves it off. "Yeah, good luck with that, Naruto... But I better get going... See you later."

Before he could at least say goodbye, the blond finds her already out and away from the courtyard. Sighing, he sits back down with his legs crossed. He thinks about what Sakura had suggested, about starting somewhere close to you first, so...

Taking out an empty scroll from his pouch, he lays it flat on the ground and spreads it open. He then makes the necessary hand signs and moves his right hand over the blank paper in a half-handed ram sign, closing his eyes in concentration. After a few seconds, he opens them and taps the paper.

From his fingertips spreads out blackish ink, where a set of characters appear, making a seal just like the one before. Once it's done, he claps his hands together and releases a small burst of chakra, making the seal glow dull in yellow. It soon dies out, and the boy leans back to examine his work, his mind going back through his memories.

* * *

_"The first step is to draw the seal. Second is to seal a piece of your chakra. And third...you just activate it." Kakashi eye smiles. "Any questions?"_

_Naruto scratches the top of his head and then raises his hand. "Erm... What does sealing your chakra __**do**__ anyway? I mean, why would you seal it in the first place?"_

_"Hmm, well..." He rubs his masked chin. "There __**is**__ actually a step four, if you consider it anyway. In theory, the sealing formula acts as a mark and a beacon between the user and the user's sealed chakra, like an invisible thread connecting the two."_

_The blond nods at this to show that he's still following._

_Kakashi continues. "With that, the user can use something that's called the 'Mind's Eye' to see the surrounding chakra that's in the range of the seal, as well as identify its amount and color."_

_Naruto still nods, but then stops and backtracks, blinking back his eyes. "Mind what?"_

_"Mind's Eye." The jōnin corrects. "The phrase 'mind's eye' refers to the human ability to visualize, that is to say, to experience visual mental imagery. In other words, one's ability to __**see**__ things with the mind. Understand?_

_The boy still continues his deadpan stare. "Umm..."_

_Kakashi sighs and rubs the back of his shaggy hair. "Hmm. Let's see... It's hard to explain since I haven't used it yet. But the basic concept is that the only way to see the hidden things around you..." He pokes the metallic plate on the boy's headband. "...is to use your head."_

* * *

Naruto slaps his cheeks with the palm of his hands. "Right! Mind's Eye... Let's do this."

And with that, he closes his eyes and forms a ram hand sign, his brow slightly creasing in concentration. But just like before, he still couldn't visualize anything. It's all black. Darkness... Even with his teammate's suggestion of peace and quiet, a cool head, and it being close, there not a single trace of—

A small flicker of yellow appears before him, like a guide through the blackest abyss of the night. It's so very close, just right within his reach. And he knows...just what it is.

His lips part in awe at what he's seeing, seeing it with his Mind's Eye even! He doesn't know if Kakashi-sensei or Sasuke sees it this way, or even Neji with his Byakugan. But what he sees in his mind is a small yellow flame that sits right where the** 'Akai Itō Fūin' **or** 'Red String Seal' **is supposed to be. Connected to it is a glowing thread leading to an even bigger and brighter flame. It's the same color as the smaller one. Still yellow of course... It's the color of his chakra after all.

The blond opens his eyes, and a wide grin stretches from the corners of his mouth. He did it... He made progress! What's great is that even with his eyes wide open, he can still see the chakra inside the seal, as well as his _own_ chakra for the matter!

But before he could fully celebrate by jumping up in joy and telling it to Kakashi, he sees a burning ember of red mixed in with his own yellow chakra. It's quite small. Tiny compared to the one on the seal.

Naruto reaches for his left pocket, pulling out a neatly folded handkerchief. Unfolding it, he finds the source of the red chakra. And it's the single thread of red hair that he found in Orochimaru's lair.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

It was just past sunset that day when she was lured in by blinking bright lights into that damned building at the precedent of gambling away her money. She had lost it all—which isn't really surprising. And whenever she did, she would take her apprentice and Tonton and run like a witty fox far away from its predator. That was her life back then before she even met the blonde sunshine that so reminds her of her late brother and late lover.

That day when she fled the scene, she expected the usual with them ranting about 'losing' and a large 'debt', and so on, and so on... What she _didn't_ expect was for a red-haired girl to come running at them full speed ahead, yelling_, "Hey! Come back here!"_

She did the opposite... Of course...

But the girl didn't let up and still chased after them. It was fun while it lasted, but soon turned quite annoying. Having had enough of the brat, she used her apprentice as bait and lured her into an alleyway. And once the redhead dropped down, she came from behind and _smacked_ her right on the top of her head. The jarring experience dispelled the girl's transformation, leaving her clean clothes to turn back into her ragged garb.

The redhead was no older than eleven or twelve. She was a ninja... _Is_ a ninja if one's being specific. After all, that same girl is standing right there in front of her, staring with wide eyes and gaping at her like a fool. It then turns to a frown as she narrows her eyes, her body going rigid and tense. "What the hell? Are you kidding me?!"

Tsunade sighs, rubbing her ear with a finger and looking at the redhead with a bored expression. She never expected to meet her again, much less know that her last name is Uzumaki and that she used to serve Orochimaru. They were two strangers that were supposed to be enemies. Yet somehow, they helped each other in their own small kind way. Fate has a really weird way of making people meet. "Eh? Why are you even complaining? I thought you'd be happy about it."

Tayuya opens her mouth as if to protest, but suddenly falls short, snapping her mouth shut with the click of her teeth. Gulping it down, she crosses her arms and simply glares at the Hokage as payback, although it comes off more unsure with her cheeks having a slight reddish tint in them. "I-I-I'm just surprised that you'd even let me be on a mission because, y'know, the probation, and because I was... I used to anyway," she sighs and scratches the top if her head, her other hand landing by her hip.

One corner of the blonde's mouth slightly twitches upwards, but she quickly clears her throat to cover it up. "It's just a simple B-rank mission. Take it as a test if you will." She leans forward, lacing her fingers together. "There is an organization running amok in the north-western part of the Land of Fire. You are to go undercover and learn what you can. If by some chance you encounter their leader, you are to subdue him."

"Assassination, you mean." She lightly nods her head. "No problem. I'm good at that."

Yūgao glances at her, while Tsunade raises an eyebrow. "Yes." She leans back on her seat. "That's the gist of it. But the decision won't fall on you as it still ultimately comes from your—"

A crash of ear-shattering broken glass interrupts them, and a blur shoots through the window, landing on the floor inside as gracefully as if it had been practiced over a thousand times. It is a woman with fair skin and violet hair styled in a short, spiky, fanned-ponytail. She wears a tan overcoat over a fitted mesh body suit, a dark orange mini-skirt, a dark blue belt, and pale grey shin guards. On her forehead is the typical headband, which suggests that she's a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village.

"Squad leader..." Tsunade finishes her sentence, but pinches the bridge of her nose, showing her irritation.

Standing up from her crouch, Anko Mitarashi turns to the blonde, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry I'm late. There was this huge promo at the Dumpling Shop where the one hundredth customer gets to have two dozen sweet dumplings for free! I won this morning, and it was like I was in heaven. I lost track of time because of that, but it was _all_ worth it. Hahaha! Oh, and about your window. Don't worry about it. You can just leave the tab to me."

Shaking out from the shock of surprise, Tayuya sweatdrops at the woman's eccentric behavior and general lack of care.

Tsunade exhales audibly, now rubbing both her temples. She opens her mouth, about to speak. But before she could even start, she is interrupted again by a sudden set of knocks. The door to the office swings open, and a black-haired woman comes barging in with a light pink pig following on her heels.

"Lady Tsunade!"

"Oink! Oink!"

Tsunade sighs in exasperation. From the corner of her eyes, she sees Tayuya facepalming, which also serves as a cover as three more ninja arrive to see what all the commotion is about. Shizune notices this as well as she quickly turns around and handles the situation.

She waves her arms at both sides, seemingly covering what's behind her. "There's nothing here to see. No trouble whatsoever. You should all go back to your stations. You too, Genma, Raidō."

Tayuya stiffens at the mention of their names. Senbonhead and Scarface... She and her late teammates had almost killed them in their mission to get Sasuke. She doesn't know if they knew about her or not, or if they saw her face just now. But what an idiot she must be if it is the latter, just because she didn't put her mask on.

The sound of the door closing brings her out of her musings, and she removes the hand from her face to up to see Shizune nodding at them and then turning back to her master.

"It's time, milady."

The blonde stands up, already preparing herself for the predetermined headache. "Let's just get this over with." She looks back at the other three in the room, but lingers for a little while on Tayuya. "You're Dismissed."

As they exit the office, Anko turns to face her other two squad members, her jolly—don't care about your shit—attitude fades and is replaced by a colder and more deadlier demeanor. "Let me just make this clear. You are to follow my orders _to_ the letter, without complaints, and _without_ any troubles." Her eyes a trained on the redhead as she says the last part, and Tayuya has an inkling that she knows. But just like a switch, she clicks back to her jolly good mood, grinning at them as if nothing had happened. "Do that, then maybe we'll get to be friends. Meet at the gate at eleven hundred. Oh, and be sure to have lunch by then." And with that, she exits the room using the same path she used when she came.

Tayuya closes her eyes with a sigh. Just great... Another one to watch out for. Just then, she feels someone stroking the top of her hair. Opening her eyes, she sees that it's Uzuki. Of course... She's the only other person inside the room with her. She won't admit it out loud, but the woman is the only person she'd let touch her hair. She can't really explain it. Maybe it's because of the warm feeling that comes, like the sweet memories of her childhood.

"Since breakfast had an early cancellation, I'll let you make me break protocol just this once. How does Ichiraku Ramen sounds?"

Tayuya could hear the grin in the Anbu's voice. And she couldn't help keep the smile forming on her own.

She covers it quickly by hiding behind her mask, becoming Ikari once more. "Sounds good." She then gestures to the Hokage's broken window. "Should we use dumpling bitch's— I mean, our _squad_ leader's self-made shortcut?"

Uzuki shakes her head at the redhead's casual no-nonsense critization. "Just don't let her hear you talk about her like that. You might regret it." She exits the office using the shortcut.

Tayuya snorts, following her guardian outside. "She doesn't scare me." She announces proudly, but then whispers, "Besides, there are other things that I'm more afraid of anyway..."

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

On one of the highest buildings in the Leaf Village sits a dark-haired boy watching a redheaded girl from afar. He uses the facial expression that people use whenever one is pleased. Since it's of a success when he gets her attention—after all, humans are pleased when one gets what they want—he lets out a smile.

From up here, he couldn't tell what kind of expression she's wearing whenever she sneaks past glances at him, all the while following the purple-haired Anbu. It doesn't help that she has her mask on this time around. But that's okay. What's most important is that she understands the meaning of him showing himself to her. It also answers the question which suggests that her sensory range is broader than her Anbu guardian's. Or maybe it's because she already knows his distinct chakra signature from the night before. Either way, it would most pleasant if she would follow the direction Lord Danzō has in-stored for her on her own will. Confronting her right now would only lead to more trouble with the Anbu so close in proximity. She almost caught whiff of his presence earlier on this morning, and another slip up might just do him in.

Sai puts on a smile once more. He knows that she won't hear him, as much as the same that he won't hear her. But that doesn't stop him from saying it all the same. "Haha. I don't understand what the Hokage sees in you. I also don't understand why Lord Danzō won't let me just kill you, Orochimaru's former slave..." He forces out a chuckle to bubble his lips and touches his chin with a thumb and index finger. "You _must_ still have some secrets. Or else why would they keep you alive?" He sees the Anbu disappear behind a building. Ikari looks at him one last time, and he gives her a small wave, "Oh, well..." Before disappearing again without a trace.

_**~oOoOoOo~**_

A long and wide table stretches in the middle of the room. There are ten seats in total, and at the back is a large 'Fire' kanji character attached to the top wall. Just right under it is a screen where the Fire Daimyō usually appears during these meetings. However, it is turned off as there will be only four people using this room.

Tsunade walks inside. The two old bags are already present, but the last one has still yet to come. She mentally scoffs at the old war hawk arranging this meeting, but then comes in last out of them all. Stupid old geezer.

"It seems Danzō is the only one left to wait." Homura, a grey-haired fossil with glasses wearing a constant frown that seemed permanently glued on his face, comments.

"Have you any idea what this meeting is all about, Tsunade?" the other fossil, Koharu, asks. Like her counterpart, her hair is grey and is pulled back in a twin bun, locked by a traditional hair pin.

Tsunade takes a seat opposite from them, closing her eyes with a sigh. "No idea. I just want to get this over with."

Homura shakes his head, while Koharu opens her mouth. But before she could speak what's on her mind, the door to the war room suddenly opens.

Danzō stands on the doorway, glancing at all of them, but lingers on the Hokage for but a moment. He takes a seat on the side of the elders, but with a single space between them and him.

Tsunade narrows her eyes in utter dislike. As much as she likes to disregard everything the old man has to say and just skip this whole meeting altogether, she knows that she needs to keep an ear open and find out just what Danzō truly knows...

* * *

**AN:**

**I know it's been months. Earlier this year, I went through depression for 6 months. But now I'm okay. Lately, I've been busy with my thesis and intership. And recently, most of my free time is consumed by playing my brother's PS4. Starting November, I wanted to at least update a story, particularly this fic since I've left it hanging. Sorry if I'm a slow writer, but at least I'm trying.**

**Anyway, thanks for still reading my story. It may not update for a while, but know that I'm doing my best to finish this.**

**There are 3 things that Tayuya is afraid of. What are they?**

**Hint: Lost Uzumaki**

**Next time on Death Battle!**

**Tsunade vs. Danzo (Sentou Kaishi!)**

**Just kidding! I'm really excited about Naruto Storm 4! Need to pre-order for Sarada!**

**Is it just me? Or am I the only one who thinks Sasuke (Boruto the Movie) is cool now?**


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